A woman appeared in the Harare Magistrates’ Court on Monday facing fraud charges after authorities alleged she was repackaging sugar into counterfeit bags bearing the brand name of a registered company. The defendant, Spiwe Mutandwa, 34, was granted US$200 bail by Magistrate Tapiwa Kuhudzai.
According to the State’s case presented in court, Mutandwa is charged with fraud as defined under Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. She also faces an alternative charge of contravening the Trade Marks Act.
Prosecutors allege that on October 20, detectives from the Zimbabwe Republic Police received information that Mutandwa was packaging sugar into counterfeit 1kg and 2kg packets with Tongaat Hulett branding at her stall in the Gazaland area of Highfield, a suburb of Harare.
Acting on the information, police went to the location, where they reported finding Mutandwa and an accomplice, who was not named in the court proceedings, engaged in the repackaging process.
Court documents state that authorities seized 39 bags of non-branded brown sugar, approximately 1,000 empty plastic packets printed with the “Huletts SunSweet” trademark, and an electronic sewing machine allegedly used to seal the packets.
Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe is the registered owner of the Huletts trademark in the country. The prosecution contends that the actions were intended to misrepresent the origin and quality of the sugar to potential buyers.
As part of her bail conditions, Mutandwa was ordered to reside at her given address, to report once a week to the ZRP Southerton police station, and not to interfere with state witnesses.
The case is scheduled to return to court on November 27 for further proceedings.
