Zim woman nabbed in US$322K forex fraud

Zim Now Reporter

A Zimbabwean woman based in South Africa has found herself in the crosshairs of the law after being arrested in Triangle and hauled before the Harare Magistrates' Court to answer to hefty fraud and money laundering charges. Grace Makozho (31) is accused of orchestrating a sophisticated scheme that allegedly siphoned a staggering US$322,000 and 650,000 South African rand from her former employer, Access Forex.

Harare magistrate Donald Ndirowei has remanded Makozho in custody, setting today as the date for her bail determination. Adding to her legal woes, Makozho also faces a charge of supplying false information to the police during her apprehension.

The intricate plot allegedly began in April 2023, while Makozho was working for Access Forex in South Africa. Employed as a clerk since July 2022, she allegedly exploited her insider knowledge of the company's systems to hatch a plan to defraud her employer.

According to the prosecution, Makozho masterminded the creation of fictitious remittance accounts within Access Forex's system. Working in the same office as Liniet Maphosa, who was responsible for processing client funds for transfer, Makozho allegedly leveraged Maphosa's credentials to gain unauthorized access to the transfer system.

Using these "ghost accounts" bearing the names of non-existent remitters, Makozho allegedly initiated a series of unauthorized transfers from Access Forex South Africa to 91 recipients scattered across Zimbabwe. Among these recipients were her alleged accomplices, Dickson Gweshe and Shepherd Gweshe, who remain at large, further complicating the intricate web of the alleged crime.

The modus operandi was chillingly simple yet effective. Makozho allegedly instructed the Zimbabwean recipients to withdraw the fraudulently transferred funds from Access Forex tellers nationwide and then hand over the cash to her. Driven by greed, Makozho allegedly made trips from South Africa to Zimbabwe to personally collect the ill-gotten gains, which she then deposited into her South African bank account.

To further conceal her alleged criminal enterprise, Makozho is accused of using the stolen funds to acquire various properties, attempting to launder the money and solidify her illicit gains.

The elaborate scheme unravelled when Access Forex conducted an internal audit, revealing the significant discrepancies and triggering a police investigation.

The long arm of the law finally caught up with Makozho on April 5th this year. Detectives, acting on intelligence that she was in her home area of Kada village in Chiredzi, tracked her down. However, even in the face of law enforcement, Makozho allegedly attempted to deceive the authorities, falsely identifying herself as Milicent Kwangwari.

Her attempt at deception proved futile. Makozho was taken to ZRP Masvingo Rural, where her true identity was exposed when a national identity card bearing her real name was discovered in her handbag. Confronted with the evidence, she reportedly confessed to lying to the police.