Two men allegedly stole a suitcase containing R700 000, equivalent to US$47 000, from a Harare-bound bus after disembarking mid-journey with the complainant’s luggage from the boot compartment.
Tinashe Hute, 19, of Rusape, and Marko Punungwe, 38, appeared before Harare magistrate Tapiwa Kuhudzai facing theft charges.
The State was represented by prosecutor Dzidzai Josiah.
The court heard that the complainant, Tinashe Mafararikwa, an employee of Nimrod Taguta, a religious leader of the Johane Marange Apostolic Church in Zimbabwe, boarded a Gold Class bus in Mutare bound for Harare at around 2.30pm.
He placed a black Monarch suitcase containing R700 000, various personal valuables and clothing in the bus’s luggage compartment.
Related Stories
Prosecutors told the court that the accused, who were passengers on the same bus, allegedly hatched a plan to steal the luggage.
They allegedly disembarked along the way, pretending they had luggage in the boot compartment, before taking the complainant’s suitcase and disappearing.
Upon arrival at the Fourth Street Bus Terminus in Harare, the complainant discovered that his suitcase was missing and reported the matter at ZRP Harare Central.
On September 24, 2026, detectives received information linking the accused to the offence.
Acting on the information, detectives arrested the two men in Rusape, leading to the recovery of the suitcase and property valued at US$5 900.
Leave Comments