NetOne loses ZWL$16,2m to ZINARA employee

Michael Mashiri

A Harare man, who stands accused of embezzling ZWL$16 196 143 from NetOne, has been given bail and ordered to appear in court on 24 January, 2023.

Tongai Shonhiwa (34) of Combrah Flats in Harare, appeared before the Harare Magistrates’ Court accused of theft as defined in Section 113 (1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.

Magistrate Evelyn Mashavakure, who presided over the matter ordered Shonhiwa to deposit ZWL50 000 to the clerk of court and to report to the CID once every Friday until the case is finalised.

Shonhiwa is employed by Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) as a tollgate cashier. During the period from July 2022 to date, Zinara has received Point of Sale machines from various banks with NetOne post-paid data lines for use at tollgates across the country.

Shonhiwa was aware that all the point-of-sale machines had post-paid data lines. It is said that Shonhiwa, during the course of his duties, unlawfully removed several post-paid NetOne data sim cards from point-of-sale machines under his charge.

He unlawfully gained access to NetOne x131# and x371# and further gained access to data recharge platforms.

Shonhiwa would then sell the post-paid data lines to unsuspecting clients, claiming that the lines had several benefits and packages, including unlimited data recharge and talk time.

The court was informed that Shonhiwa sold two NetOne post-paid data lines to Courage Nemaisa for USD$500. Courage Nemaisa then gave one of post-paid lines to Talent Taunezvi and the two used these lines to transfer data bundles to clients.

Nemaisa and Taunezvi used the lines to access the x131# recharge platform and transferred data to several clients at a lower price than the official price.

NetOne came across the advertisement and reported the matter to the police who later conducted investigations into the matter, leading to the arrest of Nemaisa and Taunezvi in Mutare.

The two were interviewed and they implicated Shonhiwa, leading to his arrest at Shamva tollgate. NetOne Cellular (Pvt) Ltd lost ZWL$16 196 143 and nothing has been recovered so far.