Businessman James Pande Framed in Antimony Deal Dispute, Probe Finds – Eduzim News

By A Correspondent| Zanu PF politician and businessman James Pande is a victim of a targeted and sustained smear campaign which seeks to stop the recovery of funds poured into a murky mining investment deal with a named foreign national.

The revelations come in the wake of recent kidnapping charges raised against Pande who runs Big Deal Investments which have reportedly turned out to be fabricated and a smokescreen to obstruct recovery of a US$500 000 investment.

Pande and his partners allegedly paid half a million United States dollars to the foreign national for the supply of antimony but allegedly never received a single gram.

Antimony is a shiny, bluish-white and brittle metalloid mineral which expands on solidification. In its metallic form it is silvery, hard and brittle.

It is used in the electronics industry to make some semiconductor devices, such as infrared detectors and diodes. It is alloyed with lead or other metals to improve strength and reduce friction.

Investigations reveal that Pande and his partners were framed as outlaws when they tried to recover their “investment” in the antimony venture.

They had allegedly trekked the foreign national to a lodge in the Midlands province.

Emerging evidence suggests that the kidnapping and assault charges against Pande were floated in a bid to block their pursuit of a half-million American dollars investment in the antimony venture that never bore fruit.

It is suspected that the foreign national also violated immigration laws by claiming ownership of mines yet he is on a tourist visa and is reportedly always playing cat and mouse with authorities.

New facts show that Pande is actually a victim not the pepetrator as alleged with several litigation cases against the foreign national and his partners before the High Court in Harare.

A source said the kidnapping charges against Pande were a fabrication.

“Evidence we have gathered so far confirms that the reported kidnapping charges against James Pande are a fabricated narrative and a calculated legal smokescreen designed to smear his reputation and obstruct a multi-million dollar recovery effort,” said the source.

” No official charges or warrants exist against Pande; instead, he is one of many global partners seeking to recoup funds from their funds from the foreign national at the centre of this case.”

The sources added that the case against Pande “has evolved into a coordinated international “reckoning” as investors from across four continents have come up with allegations against the foreign national claiming to have been duped.

“The narrative has shifted from a fictitious criminal case to an international effort to hold the foreign national accountable for failed business representations.”

It is believed that investors from Switzerland, Australia and the Middle East have already raised a red flag after being duped the same way using antimony mining venture as a “honey trap”.

“The existence of these concurrent legal battles—representing a growing group of different victims—reinforces the fact that Pande is a victim of a documented pattern of deception.”

This is substantiated by various litigation cases against the foreign national pending before the courts among them HCH1157/26 (Harare High Court), HCH1265/26 (Harare High Court),
CR01/07/25 (Kwekwe),
CR 52/08/25 MDP (Kwekwe),
CR 104/09/25 (Kwekwe) and HCCC86/25 (Kwekwe).

“The pattern is now undeniable: as investors in Switzerland, Dubai, and Australia conducted due diligence, they uncovered discrepancies that led to aborted deals. In Zimbabwe, the tactic used to silence partners was the creation of a fraudulent criminal narrative against Pande to serve as a smokescreen for the seizure of mining infrastructure,” concluded the source.

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