HARARE – Top lawyer Wilson Manase was last Wednesday picked up by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) over alleged abuse of a deceased estate, ZimLive has learnt.

Manase was leaving the Harare Magistrate Court where he is embroiled in another matter of abuse of estate property.

His arrest comes after the late businesswoman Jane Maisiri’s son, Tongai Mhlanga, filed a complaint against him alleging that as an executor, he had failed to account for some of the estate’s property.

Manase was at the court to attend to a case in which he is accused by Langton Nyatsambo on allegations that he abused his wife, the late Fiona Shadaya’s estate.

Manase allegedly forged divorce papers to claim that Nyatsambo and Fiona were already divorced at the time the latter died. This was done to ensure that Nyatsambo could not benefit from the deceased estate.

The top lawyer claims that he was given the divorce documents by the late Fiona’s father, Marshal Shadaya. However, Shadaya is denying ever giving him the papers. Instead, he claims that it was Manase who gave him the papers.
The two will testify on the forged divorce documents.

The case number on the divorce certificate was later established at the High Court to belong to a certain white couple, according to Nyatsambo.

Fiona died in 2009 and since then, her estate has not been winded up. Several properties have already been disposed of by Manase, but Nyatsambo claims he has not received anything realised from the sale.

In papers to the Master of the High Court, Manase said the value of the deceased’s estate was about US$1.5 million, but in papers before the High Court, he estimates the same to be close to US$5 million.

He also claimed in papers at the Master that he has claimed executor fees of US$80,000 but at the High Court, the figure is about US$320,000, according to Nyatsambo.

On Wednesday, when Manase was picked up by ZACC, Nyatsambo was surrounded by police officers who wanted to arrest him over an undisclosed complaint that Manase had reported against him.

ZACC picked Manase to answer to charges of abusing the estate property by selling and renting out properties of the late Maisiri without consulting her family members.

He was allegedly not remitting the funds to the beneficiaries, and failed to account for money in Maisiri’s offshore account. He also allegedly gave one of Maisiri’s houses in Eastlea, Harare, to his son.

Mhlanga also alleged that Manase has been collecting rentals from various properties that belong to the estate over the years, and failed to account for the funds.

Complaints against Manase are before the Law Society of Zimbabwe, which regulates the conduct of lawyers.

Manase denies wrongdoing.