Online Reporter
Prosper Dembedza
Court Correspondent
A Chitungwiza man who was arrested last year on allegations of money laundering has told the court that he earned the money in South Africa.
Ishmaal Shayanewako highlighted that his warned and cautioned statement has robbery allegations while the State charge sheet has money laundering charges.
He said this shows that the police who arrested him only want to ‘fix’ him.
“While in South Africa, I did not tell anyone about the money as I was afraid of being robbed,” he said.
“When I got to the border, I told the clearing agents that I had some money in my bag but they didn’t give me a declaration form. They told me that the country warmly receives investors as l had hinted on my plans,” Shayanewako told the court.
According to prosecutor Loveit Muringwa, on October 23 last year, detectives from Chitungwiza received information that Shayanewako was on a spending spree.
“Acting on the information, they arrested the accused who was driving a Toyota Hilux GD6 vehicle he had just bought for US$36 000.
“The accused was escorted to CID Chitungwiza where a search was conducted in his vehicle. A wallet containing ZAR 198 800 was recovered.
“Further investigations revealed that he had also recently purchased a five-roomed house in Manyame Park, Chitungwiza, for US$27 000.”
The court heard that Shayanewako was quizzed about the source of the money but he failed to give a satisfactory response.
