Zimra officials in court over US$6,3 million fraud

Yeukai Karengezeka

Court Correspondent

TWO Zimbabwe Revenue Authority employees have been hauled to court after being implicated in a sophisticated fraud scheme involving the manipulation of the organisation’s systems, resulting in prejudice of over US$6,3 million.

Shupikai Mary Nicola Marongwe (52), a database administrator and Paradzai Mutasa (35), a systems developer, appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mrs Marehwanazvo Gofa yesterday.

Both face charges of criminal abuse of office as public officers and alternatively, fraud.

Represented by their lawyer, Mr Killian Mandiki, the duo was remanded in custody pending a bail ruling set for tomorrow.

Prosecutor Mr Rufaro Chonzi told the court how Marongwe and Mutasa allegedly abused their roles at ZIMRA to create fictitious entries in clearing agents’ prepayment accounts, enabling the agents to bypass customs duties while the accused pocketed the proceeds.

Marongwe, whose duties included database creation, maintenance and disaster recovery, allegedly collaborated with Mutasa, who was responsible for developing and customising software.

Together, they exploited ZIMRA’s ongoing Zimbabwe Electronic Single Window (ZESW) project, designed to integrate with the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA).

This project aims to streamline import or export processes and permit management to enhance ease of business.

According to the State, the fraud began on September 4, 2024, when a Ugandan consultant, Innocent Onega, working on the ZESW project, requested Marongwe to create a view-only account to link the ASYCUDA system with the ZESW system.

Instead, Marongwe and Mutasa allegedly created an unauthorised account, ZESWASYCUDA, which had extensive rights to edit, delete, and update databases without supervisory approval, in violation of ZIMRA’s change management policies.

The accused reportedly recruited several clearing agents nationwide and inflated their prepayment accounts by creating fictitious deposit entries.

These false entries misrepresented that the agents had deposited funds into ZIMRA’s bank accounts.

The agents then used the inflated balances to clear goods through customs without paying the required duties.

In return, the accused allegedly received cash kickbacks from the agents, which they converted to personal use while sharing proceeds with the agents.

The fraudulent activities resulted in the clearance of goods worth millions without payment of customs duties, causing ZIMRA to lose an estimated ZWL171 186 079 (US$6 340 251) and US$37 200 in revenue.

Nothing has been recovered so far.