Vusumuzi Dube
Harare Bureau
HARARE businessmen Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu, who are accused of defrauding the Government of US$7 million meant for the Presidential Goat Scheme, were yesterday further remanded in custody to today, after one of the investigating officers opposed bail.
Chimombe and Mpofu allegedly failed to supply goats despite receiving full payment from the Government.
The State led evidence from Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) investigating officer Mrs Gamuchirai Sibongile Zimunhu, who told the court that they had challenges in bringing the two to their offices for interviews.
She said investigators had to call lawyers representing the accused several times to bring their clients to their offices.
“When Mr Chapwanya (investigator) called Mr Mugiya, who is the lawyer for the accused, his clients turned hostile, saying the lawyer wanted to sell them out to ZACC, which prompted us to deploy teams to hunt for the suspects,” Mrs Zimunhu said.
She added that after visiting their offices, Chimombe and Mpofu posted pictures all over social media and issued a statement, which showed they had the potential to interfere with investigations.
Mrs Zimunhu further submitted that she was not satisfied with the business and home addresses provided by Chimombe and Mpofu, as they failed to locate them there during investigations.
The matter was rolled over to today for continuation of bail application.
The State is alleging that Mpofu and Chimombe forged a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) tax clearance certificate and a NSSA compliance certificate in the name of Blackdeck Private Limited and attached them to a bidding document which they submitted to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development for a tender to supply and deliver goats under the Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme.
They allegedly misrepresented that the company was in full compliance with ZIMRA and NSSA requirements.
However, investigations indicated that the QR code and the reference on the NSSA compliance certificate were issued to a different company and that Blackdeck (Pvt) Ltd was deregistered from the NSSA system in January 2016.
Further investigations revealed that Blackdeck (Pvt) Ltd was not issued with a ZIMRA tax clearance certificate for the year 2021 and that the QR code on the forged tax clearance certificate belonged to a different company.
Acting on the misrepresentation, the Ministry of Lands entered into a contract agreement with Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming on November 16, 2021, for the supply and delivery of 632 001 goats for the Presidential Goats Pass-on Scheme valued at US$87 757 168.
On the contract, Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming was represented by Mpofu and Tinashe Chimombe who was his witness.
The Ministry of Lands contracted Blackdeck Private Limited on November 3, 2021 and transferred $901 294 200 and $698 705 800 on April 21, 2022 and June 29, 2022 respectively into their bank account.
The total amount paid out was Z$1,6 billion (equivalent to US$7 712 197 at the time).
Following delays in the delivery of the goats, the Ministry of Lands officials made several engagements with the accused persons who misrepresented that they had mobilised 32 500 goats across the provinces which were ready to be distributed to beneficiaries.
However, a verification process revealed that the accused persons only had 3 713 goats in their holding sites and consequently cancelled the contract on August 29, 2022. The accused persons only supplied a total of 4 208 goats valued at US$331 445 and went on to convert US$7 380 751 to their personal use. Nothing was recovered.
Online Reporter