Banker testifies in forgery case

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Judge Mallet; Hammer
Judge Mallet; Hammer

A WITNESS has told the Kitwe Magistrates’ Court how she refused to clear a corporate cheque with one signatory.

This is in a case where Gorgio Pangrazio of Tandanani Farm in Kalulushi is charged with three counts of forgery, a count of making false documents and a count of theft by director during the time he worked for his former wife’s company, Dreamland Estate and Networks Limited.

It is alleged that Pangrazio on unknown dates but in 2013 forgeed a bank cheque purporting to show that it was duly issued and signed by Jacquline Marie, when in fact not.

In count two, it is alleged that Pangrazio, without authority, made and signed 121 bank cheques and six bank transfers.

In count three, it is alleged that Pangrazio, being a director of Dreamland Real Estate and Networks Limited, stole K 2, 481, 137, the property of the said company.

When the matter came up before magistrate Daniel Musonda for trial on Tuesday, Nyangu Mumba, 31, a banker at Intermarket Bank, said she recorded “rejected” on a cheque which Prangazio submitted with only one signature.

“ Usually, a corporate cheque must have two signatures as its a business account with different shares depending on the company. But at one point, he (Pangrazio) came with a cheque with one signature but I said to him that it could not be cleared without the other signature. He told me that he could come back and within five minutes, he came with a different cheque with two signatures on it,” Mumba said.

Three bankers have since testified before court.

Magistrate Musonda adjourned the matter to December 7, for continuation of trial.

Earlier during the last sitting, Marie said she never allowed her former husband to issue any cheques or to make withdrawals.

“I came across bank cheques that were signed but it was not my signature. When I asked him why he did that, he said he was my husband and could do that and walked away from me. Later, I discovered that he had deleted company data and that is how I suspended him from my company. He had been forging my signature for five months when I was out of the country,’’ Marie said.

She emotionally testified that it hurts to see how the company had gone down due to the forgery of the cheques.

“All these are forged cheques. It is not my signature; it even hurts me to look at these cheques now because I never thought that my husband could do such a thing. Due to all these frauds, the company is now going through a lot of problems. I did not anticipate that he can do such,’’ said Marie.

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