Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE trial of two Beitbridge men, recently arrested by the Zimbabwe Insurance Crimes Bureau (ZICB) in collaboration with police detectives from CID, for allegedly facilitating the movement of goods through the Beitbridge Border Post using forged documents, has been set for December 18.
The ZICB, an investigative unit operating under the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (ICZ), has already deployed personnel to work with security agencies to verify the authenticity of insurance-related documents originating from Beitbridge.
Hopewell Ndlovu and Phillip Ndlovu were each granted $200 bail when they appeared before the Beitbridge Provincial Court facing charges of forgery, fraud, possession of articles to commit a crime, and contravening a section of the Immigration Act.
They are being represented by Mr Julius Maphosa and Mr Muchiwande Sithole, respectively. As part of their bail conditions, both were ordered to report twice a week at CID Beitbridge on Mondays and Thursdays between 6AM and 6PM.
In addition, Hopewell was also ordered to surrender an offer letter or agreement of sale for his stand at Lutumba Growth Point.
The accused, who were operating an office in Beitbridge town, were arrested after falling into a ZICB-initiated trap on November 24.
Beitbridge area prosecutor, Mr Ronald Mugwagwa, told the court that on November 23, information obtained by the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe revealed that the two men were printing and distributing fake Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) yellow card insurance certificates and converting the proceeds to their own use.
Following this, a private investigator with the ICZ approached the accused, requesting a Comesa yellow card insurance certificate purportedly for his truck.
The investigator was advised to pay the accused R500 for the truck, which would normally cost US$45 at the ICZ.
The money was paid to Hopewell, who instructed the investigator to visit their office the following day, to collect the Comesa yellow card.
The ICZ investigator then reported the matter to CID Beitbridge and was allocated detectives to accompany him to collect the card, leading to the arrest of the two men at their office in Beitbridge town.
Police detectives and the private investigator found them in possession of articles for criminal use, including blank Comesa yellow cards; blank and fake birth and death certificates; several Central Vehicle Registry blank driver’s licences; and a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) receipt book.
Other items included several passports, four erased Zimbabwe Defensive Driving certificates, South African motor registration books (including blank copies), a laptop, five printers, a laminating machine and a price label gun, among other things.
During interviews, Hopewell and Phillip allegedly confessed to detectives that they had used the illegal items acting in common purpose.
The articles of crime were subsequently seized by the police.
