Police bust fake vehicle licence disc syndicate

000, which they were selling to unsuspecting motorists.
Detectives from Police General Headquarters Internal Investigations also recovered 35 blank water marked papers on which the fake licence discs were printed and three stencils used to generate the fake documents.
The three suspects – Moses Rufu (37), Edwell Antonio (38) alias Peter Njombi and Tafadzwa Kadzatsa (22) – were arrested last week with 121 fake heavy vehicle licence discs.
They were selling them for US$40 per term. The discs actually cost US$240 for three terms at Zimpost, which is the official distributor of the vehicle licence discs.
Yesterday, Rufu and Antonio were jailed effective two years each after they pleaded guilty to fraud charges, when they appeared before magistrate Mr Don Ndirowei.
The court had slapped the duo with a three-year term of imprisonment each but set aside one year for each on condition of good behaviour.
However, their accomplice Kadzatsa is denying the charges and is expected to go on a full trial.
Prosecutor Ms Veronica Zvinavashe said agreed facts are that sometime in April this year, Rufu, a machine printer at Express Printers in Harare and Antonio, who is unemployed, teamed up to generate the licence discs.
On April 12 police detectives at PGHQ Internal Investigations received information that there were some bogus vehicle licence discs dealers, who were printing and distributing them to unsuspecting motorists.
John Chasara an official at the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority then approached Kadzatsa posing as a prospective buyer and was told that his accomplices Rufu and Antonio were capable of printing the licence discs.
They then promised to facilitate the discs at a fee.
On the same day around 4:30pm Rufu telephoned Chasara to come to his work place at number 1 Abercone Street at the Corner of Rezende Street.
Upon arrival Rufu and Chasara drove to Uplands Shopping Centre in Waterfalls where they met Antonio who was in possession of 121 fake licence discs.
The disks were handed over to Chasara who immediately signalled police detectives led by Assistant Inspector Thomas Mabwe who were trailing leading to the arrest of Rufu and Antonio.
After the arrest, Kadzatsa telephoned Chasara demanding his share of the money for facilitating the production of the fake discs. They later arrested him in Dzivarasekwa 2 Shopping Centre.
Detectives were led by Antonio to Juru’s workplace and recovered three stencils and blank water mark papers used in the printing of the discs in his Mitsubishi vehicle registration number ABX 1009.
Zinara was potentially prejudiced US$29 040.