Zimra officer convicted of abuse of office

The man, believed to be the owner of the cigarettes, Calique Hassan is, however, still at large.
Shingirai Murombedzi (27) of House Number 4336 Chikanga suburb in Mutare and employed by Zimra as a revenue specialist, was convicted on his own plea of guilty to contravening a section of the Criminal Law (Reform and Codification) Act (criminal abuse of office) by Beitbridge provincial resident magistrate Ms Gloria Takundwa on Tuesday.

In addition to the sentence, Murombedzi was slapped with a further 12 months imprisonment, which was wholly suspended for five years on condition that he does not within that period commit a similar offence.

The prosecutor, Ms Memory Mandityira, said on 12 June, Hassan bought 500 boxes of cigarettes from South Africa and loaded them into a Mozambican registered truck before driving to the Beitbridge Border Post.

The court was told that on arrival in Beitbridge, Hassan completed customs formalities and falsely declared to Zimra that the goods were destined for Mozambique. The consignment was then cleared by Zimra through Frantog Investments Customs Clearing Company under the Removal in Transit facility on the false pretence that it was destined for Beira, Mozambique.

According to Zimra documents, the consignment was supposed to leave the country through Forbes Border Post in Mutare.
However, instead of taking the cigarettes to Mozambique, Hassan offloaded them in the country at an unidentified place, the court was told.

He then connived with Murombedzi who then fraudulently acquitted the consignment in the Zimra system so that the cigarettes appeared as if they had left the country.

On 17 August, Murombedzi fraudulently acquitted another batch of 600 boxes of cigarettes, which had been imported by Hassan using the same method purporting that the cigarettes were destined for Mozambique.

The offence came to light when the clearing company was served with a duty requisition letter by Zimra officials in Beitbridge.  The matter was then reported to the police leading to Murombedzi’s arrest.

The State was prejudiced of $56 000 in revenue.
According to the law, all in-transit goods cleared under the Zimra’s Removal in Transit facility are exempted from customs duty payment and are liable for acquittal at the final port of exit.