dyton mupawaenda
Fidelis Munyoro-Chief Court Reporter
FORMER Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development Terrence Mukupe and three accomplices were yesterday sentenced to three years in prison and fined US$12 780 each for evading customs duties on more than 138 000 litres of diesel.
A ZIMRA crack team at Chirundu Border Post smashed the scheme to evade customs duties in 2017 when they intercepted trucks owned by Mukupe and found that they were transporting water instead of diesel.
Mukupe was convicted along with drivers Sam Kapisoriso, Joseph Taderera and Leonard Mudzuto, for unlawfully importing diesel without paying duty.
The three drivers drove the tankers into Zimbabwe with diesel meant for the Democratic Republic of Congo, but replaced the fuel with water in Zimbabwe.
Justice Benjamin Chikowero initially slapped the four with three and half years each in jail but suspended six months on condition of good behaviour. In addition, the court ordered the four to pay a US$12 780 fine each, failure of which they will each serve two years’ imprisonment.
In assessing the appropriate sentence, Justice Chikowero moved away from the presumptive two years, to impose the hefty penalty on the four, considering the serious consequences the crime had on the country’s economy and financial health and the need to deter organised crime operating across borders.
The case was in its seventh year when the trial began and the court expressed shock why the trial took long to open since “evidence was quickly gathered and the matter was simple and straight forward”.
And in his sentencing judgment, Justice Chikowero noted that the anguish and anxiety occasioned on the four awaiting trial was akin to some kind of mental imprisonment.
So, the court proceeded on the basis that had Mukupe and his accomplices been brought to trial in about 2017 and convicted, the sentence they would have received then would have been remarkably different from that which the court now imposed on them.
However, the court ruled that the offence was premeditated, planned and executed to detail and Mukupe’s role was manifest in the procurement of the diesel, its importation and the sustained bid to prevent its detection.
The diesel was not recovered, meaning Mukupe was the ultimate beneficiary.
And in this case, what moved the court to settle for a sentence beyond the presumptive sentence of two years, was that the offence was committed by an orginised criminal syndicate.
Justice Chikowero said the offence by its nature was extraterritorial and Zimbabwe owed a duty to its neighbouring countries to thwart the proliferation of laundering of proceeds of crime.
“Countering extra-territorial economic criminal activities is not the obligation of one country,” he said. “Organised criminals do not respect national boundaries and national laws. This court will be mindful of this in sentencing so as to deter not only like-minded Zimbabweans but also foreign nationals from evading the payment of duty to Zimra and in the process laundering the proceeds of crime.”
The court also said this offence had impact on Zimra, the State and the citizens of this country, as it contributes to Zimra’s failure to meet its targets in respect of revenue collection.
This in turn works against the State’s constitutional obligation to deliver services to the citizens.
“It affects the national budget, economic and social activities and occasions needless suffering of the people undetected,” he said.
“It distorts data on trade, inaccurate statistics will be captured on the volume and value of international trade thereby affecting planning again at national level. The crime also creates unfair competition among players in the same industry.”
In this regard, the court noted that inadequate punishment of offenders in Mukupe’s position encouraged non-adherence to the rule of law with more people being tempted to evade payment of duty. If not nipped in the bud, this will lead to lawlessness and chaos will reign supreme in the economy.
The State proved that on January 27, 2017, at Forbes Border Post in Mutare, the four brought in the diesel but misrepresented that the fuel was going to be offloaded in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, they drained the tankers in Zimbabwe, before filling them up with water.
The smuggling racket prejudiced Zimra of US$55 591,60 in customs duty.
Mukupe and his accomplices were arrested in February 2017 and appeared at Karoi magistrates court charged with fraud as defined in the Criminal Law or alternatively contravening Section 174(1) (e) of the Customs and Excise Act with a false declaration.
On January 26 2017, Kapisoriso, Mutsvene and Taderera entered the country through Forbes Border Post, driving tankers with diesel from Beira, Mozambique en-route the DRC. While in Zimbabwe the three truck drivers connived with Mukupe to empty the diesel and replace it with water.
Upon arrival at Chirundu Border Post on January 31 as they proceeded to the DRC, a physical examination on samples of the contents in the tankers was carried out, which later showed that the tankers contained water and not diesel.
Online Reporter