Online Reporter
Zvikomborero Parafini
THE trial of a Chinese lawyer, who is accused of fraud after she allegedly connived with the sacked Council for Legal Education executive secretary Huggins Duri, finally opened in the capital yesterday.
Yan Yu has denied the charges.
The two pleaded not guilty to the charge when they appeared before regional magistrate Clever Tsikwa.
Yu is a holder of Bachelor of Laws Honors Degree, having graduated at the University of South Africa in April 2017.
In order for her to be admitted as a Legal Practitioner and practice law in Zimbabwe, she had to write conversion examinations and attain certificates of completion with the Council for Legal Education as she had attained her legal qualifications from a foreign university.
The court heard that in 2017, Yu applied and registered to write her conversion exams but, however, did not turn up for the examinations.
She was then referred to Duri’s office.
Yu then re-appeared in 2020 intending to register for the November 2020 examinations and successfully enrolled with candidate number 11760.
She registered for six modules but only passed one module.
Yu allegedly connived with Duri into deceiving CLE into believing that she was eligible for a certificate of completion.
It is alleged that Duri ordered Shorai Tafadzwa Mupunga, who was his subordinate, to use his laptop and insert Yu’s credentials on a template of the certificate.
Mupunga printed it out and handed it to Duri for the signing of the fraudulent certificate by the Council Chairperson, Justice A.M Gowora , and the Board of Examiners Chairperson Rogers Matsikidze.
Yu told the court that she never connived with Duri and did not make a fraudulent misrepresentation to the Council for Legal Education that she had successfully sat and completed her Conversion Examinations.
She denied ever conniving with Duri and Mupunga into paying any money for purposes of facilitating the unlawful insertion of her name on the list of those to lawfully obtain the certificate of completion.
Yu accused Mupunga, who is a State witness, of simply singing for her supper in a bid to save her own skin by fabricating a false connection between her and Duri.
daniel chigunwe
