Sharp customs official exposes Cop & Zimra officia...

Sharp customs official exposes Cop & Zimra official collusion to scam state in civil service vehicle scheme

Michael Mashiri

A police officer based at Area B Tomlinson Depot has been taken to court after working with a Zimra official, still at large- over allegations of faking documentation to circumvent proper car importation procedures.

Patricia Lisa Masia, 36, who is a police officer and Tendai Chapfunya, 34, of Hammington Flats, Corner Mazowe Street and Fife Avenue, a dealer who is into the importation of cars made their initial appearance before magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts.

Pardon Makanda, 36, and Robert Jakopo, 36, years, who are both employed by Zimra as Technical Service Officers based in Masvingo, are yet to be arrested.

The State alleges that sometime around 2019, the government introduced Civil Servants motor vehicle rebate scheme, which is governed by Statutory Instrument 52 of 2019 of Customs and Exercise Regulations, 2019, which allowed civil servants with 10 years or more of service to import cars with values which fall within their employment grades, without paying import duty.

After buying cars of their choice from abroad, eligible civil servants would then attach the invoices to an application for rebate which they would submit through their respective Ministries that in turn would make recommendations to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development for issuance of a letter of authority, granting the civil servant rebate to import the car under the facility.

The civil servant would then be required to take the issued letter of authority granting rebate to import it under civil servant motor vehicle rebate scheme and attach it to an application to Zimbabwe Revenue Authority for issuance of a clearance letter.

Once a rebate clearance letter was issued by Zimra, the civil servant, upon the arrival of the car at the port of entry, would then submit the rebate clearance letter to a ZIMRA customs official at the border to allow the car to enter the country without paying import duty as long as the value of the car falls within the grade of that civil servant.

On February 1, 2023, Masia applied to the Ministry of Finance for authority to import a Toyota Auris and attached the invoice as proof of purchase.

On March 29, 2023, the Ministry of Finance issued a letter of authorisation to Masia to import a 2014 Toyota Auris with duty not exceeding US$5 000.

A copy of the authorisation letter was sent to Masia and to Zimra to facilitate the processing of a corresponding rebate letter by Zimra.

Masia, having obtained the authorisation letter, decided to deceive Zimra by fraudulently changing the car from a Toyota Auris to a Mercedes-Benz and she approached one Richard Farai Sambo for assistance in doing that.

On April 24, 2023, Chapfunya was approached by Sambo on behalf of Masia looking for help to facilitate issuance of a fraudulent rebate letter, changing details of the Toyota Auris on the authorisation letter dated March 29, 2023 to a Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

On the same day, Chapfunya contacted Makanda, a Zimra official who then agreed and instructed him to send the documents that needed to be changed and money amounting to US$800 for facilitating the fraudulent alteration.

Makanda further instructed Chapfunya to give the money to his friend’s wife at her office at Zimra ZB Building for onward transmission to him.

After receiving the documents and the money Makanda, working in connivance with Jakopo at Zimra Masvingo, generated a fake rebate letter in the name of Masia with details of the Mercedes Benz instead of the Toyota Auris, which was on the authorisation letter.

On April 27, 2023, Chapfunya received the rebate letter dated April 24, 2023 from Jakopo which he then forwarded to the border post, misrepresenting that the authority had been granted for Masia to import a Mercedes Benz instead of the Toyota Auris on the authorisation letter from Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

Zimra officials at Kariba Border Post, after realising that the car had been undervalued and that there were discrepancies between the authorisation letter and rebate letter, impounded the car.

The accused persons with intent to fraudulently import a Mercedes Benz instead of a Toyota Auris knowing very well that the vehicle import authorisation given by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to Masia was for a Toyota Auris, went on to fraudulently generate a fake rebate letter with intent to deceive Zimra.

As a result, Zimra suffered potential prejudice for the actual value of the Mercedes Benz.