Online Reporter
B-Metro Reporter
IN a sensational courtroom drama straight out of a crime thriller, five Zimbabweans based in South Africa have been slapped with 10-year jail terms each after hatching a dodgy gas tanker deal that spiralled into a foiled kidnapping plot.
On 4 April 2025, according to the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ), Moses Monde (37), Malvin Manzinde (45), Malvin Tatenda Nyamuranga (33), Nobert Muponda (45), and Joshua Mapuranga (41)—were convicted by the Harare Magistrates’ Court for conspiring to kidnap and assault a complainant who trusted them with a jaw-dropping US$800 000 investment.
The five posed as legitimate businessmen with ties to a Turkish supplier, promising to secure seven Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tankers and build a gas plant in Harare. But once the money changed hands, the so-called entrepreneurs pulled a vanishing act, leaving their client high and dry.
Suspicions peaked when the complainant contacted the Turkish company and was told only US$132,000 had been received.
Smelling a scam, the complainant pestered the crew—who, instead of owning up, plotted to snatch and silence him.
Their first ploy? Lure him to South Africa. When that flopped, they jetted into Harare on 4 March, armed to the teeth, to stake out his house. Luckily, their target was nowhere to be found, and they fled back to SA empty-handed.
But the tables turned when the savvy complainant played their game, luring them back into Zimbabwe. Cops pounced, and the elaborate web of lies was finally untangled.
Now, the gang will be spending a decade behind bars, proving what the NPAZ’s bulletins always boldly declare:
#CrimeDoesNotPay.
