Online Reporter
Zvikomborero Parafini
Two Harare men appeared in court on Wednesday accused of hacking Artemis Herbal Centre’s social media groups and converting them into forex trading platforms.
The duo, Kudakwashe Kazingizi and Shingirai Mutumwa, were not asked to plead when they appeared before Harare magistrate, Ms Ruth Moyo.
The complainant is Artemis Herbal Centre Private Limited, represented by Mr Takwana Jonga.
The court heard that on January 23, the duo hacked Artemis Herbal’s five WhatsApp groups and assumed control.
They started advertising that the company specialises in forex trading, commodity broking, house and car evaluations, contrary to its line of business.
Mr Jonga came across the messages and discovered they originated from his WhatsApp Business account.
Mr Jonga tried to delete the messages but was unsuccessful.
As the administrator of the WhatsApp Group, he tried to remove the number but failed.
Mr Jonga realised that the duo had gained unauthorised access and, on January 25, filed a police report at ZRP Harare Central.
The case was later referred to CID Harare on 26 January 2026.
The police lured Kazingizi using Jonga’s number and managed to arrest him in Harare Central Business District.
Kazingizi implicated his accomplice as the one who had given him a duplicate Econet SIM card line with Joga’s number, which they used to hack his WhatsApp business account.
The SIM card was then recovered from them and will be produced as an exhibit.
