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Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
TWO Harare businessmen breathed a sigh of relief after the High Court ordered the return of their vehicles that had been forfeited to the State for transporting illegal goods to Beitbridge last year.
Tawanda Mungate and Kenneth Mushaikwa who claimed ownership of the vehicles had appealed against Beitbridge regional magistrates’ court decision to allow the prosecution to forfeit the two vehicles.
The vehicles were intercepted along the way to Beitbridge but the drivers escaped.
However, police managed to trace the source of the goods, leading to the arrest of on Richard Tafireyi Richard. Richard was convicted own his on plea to the charge of breaching the Customs and Excise Act after he acquired 228 boxes of cigarettes without paying excise duty or surtax from a company in Harare.
He was fined $2000 and the 228 boxes plus the two vehicles, Nissan Vanette and the Mitsubishi Delica were forfeited to the State.
Mungate and Mushaikwa challenged the forfeiture of their vehicles which had been hired to ferry the goods at the High Court. They sued the trial magistrate Ms Gloria Takundwa and the State.
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