Zvikomborero Parafini
A CHINESE businesswoman will remain in remand prison after a Harare court ruled that she is not a suitable candidate for bail.
Li Qiuyi, who initially appeared in court on December 21, was back in court where magistrate Isheanesu Matova denied her bail.
Magistrate Matova ruled that it would not be in the interests of justice to release Qiuyi on bail in the face of a warrant of detention that was issued against her for overstaying in Zimbabwe.
She has been staying illegally in the country since February 2023.
Qiuyi is the share holder of Li Jia Investments (Pvt) Ltd.
The complainant is Icy Bay (Pvt) Ltd, represented by one of its shareholders Hu Pengfei.
Allegations are that in August 2023, Qian Han, a manager employed by Icy Bay, posted on WeChat searching for someone who could help the company in acquiring a Lithium Export Permit Licence.
Qiuyi responded to the message using her WeChat ID saying she had connections and it would be easy for her to process the permit through her company named LI JIA Investments at a cost of US$160 000.
A total of US$80 000 in cash was handed to her accomplice, Zhang Xianghong, who is still at large.
On October 7, 2023, another US$80 000 was paid.
Sometime in November 2023, Qiuyi then sent the Export Lithium Permit Licence to the Icy Bay representative through WeChat.
On October 27, 2023, Icy Bay attempted to export Lithium using the Permit Licence given by Qiuyi and they were told by the authorities that the permit was fake.
The company filed a police report and nothing was recovered.