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Zvikomborero Parafini
FORMER Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Terrence Mukupe, has been found guilty of illegally importing 138 979 litres of diesel without paying duty.
Mukupe’s accomplices, Same Kapisoriso, Joseph Taderera and Leonard Mudzuto, were also on trial at the High Court.
The State proved that on January 27, 2017, the quartet conspired to import the diesel, falsely documenting that it was intended for offloading in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The diesel was imported through the Forbes Border Post in Mutare.
It was then replaced with water in Zimbabwe.
The plot was discovered three days later when officials from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority intercepted the group at a checkpoint at Chirundu One Stop Border Post to verify the nature of the goods they were carrying.
All four spent the night in custody and will be sentenced today.
The State alleges that the group’s actions cost the country at least US$55 591 in revenue.
Bongani Ndlovu
Mathew Masinge