Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
A 28-YEAR-OLD Customs clearing agent based in Beitbridge has been arrested for defrauding a civil servant of US$15 700 in a botched vehicle import deal.
Of late, there has been an increase in bogus clearing agents targeting unsuspecting car importers, promising to get them vehicles from South Africa at relatively cheaper rates. However, these shadowy characters vanish into thin air after receiving payments and deposits.
In the latest case, Evans Nzara of Khwalu 1 suburb in Beitbridge was arrested in January for a crime committed in May last year.
The man had been hiding in South Africa until he ran into a trap this year and got arrested.
Nzara is accused of taking US$15 700 from one Hamufari Mugauri, a civil servant, on the pretext that he could import a single-cab Toyota Hilux single cab 2014 model for him.
The man was dragged before Beitbridge resident magistrate Mr Takudzwa Gwazemba on Thursday, charged with fraud and was not asked to plead to the charges.
He was remanded to June 24 for a possible trial pending further investigations by police detectives.
Charges as presented by the State, led by Miss Olivia Chimutinya, are that on May 10 last year, the complainant sought the services of Nzara to import a Toyota Hilux single cab 2014 model from South Africa.
Nzara indicated that he could assist Mugauri with the shipment processes, and on May 15, he advised the complainant that he had found the car in South Africa, valued at US$10 700.
The court heard that he then instructed Mugauri to deposit the money into a CABS bank account he alleged belonged to his company.
Mugauri, in turn, deposited US$10 200, which Nzara acknowledged receipt via a WhatsApp message.
Nzara bought a car from South Africa, which he didn’t deregister as per the agreed terms and he fraudulently cleared it into Zimbabwe after allegedly manipulating the Temporary Import Permit (TIP) facility.
Upon delivering the vehicle, Mugauri discovered it was a 2010 model and not the 2014 model as requested and that it had not been deregistered in South Africa.
The State said after the complainant raised concerns, Nzara promised to deregister the vehicle from South Africa and register it in Zimbabwe and that the process would require an additional US$4 800, which he was given.
In September last year, Nzara advised Mugauri that he had completed all the processes and the payment of import duty and sent a customs receipt as proof.
The fraud came to light when the vehicle was impounded by the police in Harare for not having registration plates.
The State said the accused person became evasive when the complainant asked about the registration plates until he decided to report the matter to the police.
Police investigations revealed that the accused person had allegedly imported the vehicle using a fake TIP and that he had doctored the vehicle registration certificate.
It was also discovered that the vehicle had not paid import duty and that he had shown the complainant a fake customs duty payment receipt.
Nzara was arrested in January this year after being lured by detectives through a trap and the US$15 700 is yet to be recovered.
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