Zimbabwean businessman faces fraud charges over $5m hotel casino deal
Never Mhlangarisks a jail term over allegations of fraud related to the $5m sale of Montclair Hotel and Casino in the Eastern Highlands.
Zimbabwe.- Never Mhlanga, a popular Zimbabwean businessman, has his reputation on the line and risks a jail term over allegations of fraud related to the $5m sale of Montclair Hotel and Casino in the Eastern Highlands.
The 64-year-old chartered accountant, who has spent over three decades advising companies through tough times, now faces accusations from former colleagues that he orchestrated the deal without proper authority, leaving one shareholder out of a key payout.
The transaction at the heart of the case unfolded in November 2024, when Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG), a company listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, bought the historic hotel from Briolette Services (Pvt) Ltd for $5m (€4.2m).
Montclair, a fixture in Juliasdale that draws visitors for its views and casino, has complex shareholding involving 23 parties. One of the shareholders is Ludham Investments (Pvt) Ltd. Ludham, set up years ago under the now-defunct National Discount House (NDH), where Mhlanga once served as a top executive, held a 4.17 per cent stake worth about $208,500 (€177,448).
Tinashe Able Chimanikire, a former NDH colleague representing Ludham, first learned of the sale through a Financial Gazette report last year. When he reached out to other shareholders, he found that Mhlanga had signed off on the agreement as Ludham’s representative, despite having resigned from the company’s directorship years earlier, following the collapse of National Discount House (NDH) in 2004.
Chimanikire said that when Mhlanga was confronted directly, he grew evasive, prompting a police report that led to the arrest in Harare.
Prosecutors allege Mhlanga’s actions deprived Ludham of its rightful share, turning what should have been a straightforward payout into a claim of outright fraud. Following NDH’s collapse two decades ago, its subsidiaries were dispersed, and Ludham underwent restructurings that, according to former executives, definitively removed Mhlanga from any decision-making capacity.
They note that Mhlanga’s involvement in leading RTG negotiations, despite not being qualified, raises questions about the lack of oversight in a deal that needed approval from the Competition and Tariff Commission.
Mhlanga appeared briefly in Harare Magistrates Court on August 26 before Magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa, where he was remanded in custody pending a full hearing. He did not enter a plea during the short session, and his legal team has yet to comment publicly.
RTG, which completed the Montclair takeover shortly after the announcement, has stayed silent on the dispute, emphasising in a past statement that the deal met all regulatory hurdles.
