The Court of Appeal has instructed businessman Patrick Bitature and his wife Carol Nzaro Bitature to stand trial for fraud linked to a loan from South African firm Vantage Mezzanine Fund.
Bitature had sought interim orders to halt the execution of a High Court ruling directing lower magistrates at Buganda Road to allow private prosecution charges against him and his wife. However, Justice Hellen Obura dismissed the application, citing its incompetency and being overtaken by events.
Justice Obura stated that the order Bitature sought to stay had already been executed by the Chief Magistrate, making the application irrelevant. She deemed both the notice of appeal and the substantive application as incompetent.
The couple faces fraud charges under criminal private prosecution, which the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has now taken over.
The alleged fraud revolves around a loan of approximately Shs360 billion obtained by Simba Properties Investment, owned by Bitature and his wife, from Vantage Mezzanine Fund in December 2014. As collateral, they offered shares in several of their companies.
It’s claimed that Bitature and his wife, as directors and shareholders of Simba Companies, fraudulently altered the shareholding structure to defraud the South African company and other creditors. These actions are said to violate Section 323 of the Penal Code.
The South African company initiated private prosecution proceedings against the Bitatures, later taken over by the DPP as per constitutional mandate.
