Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Bosses In Car Import Storm

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority board has suspended six senior executives with immediate effect over an exposed shady vehicle importation deal.

Commissioner-General Mr Gershem Pasi, Loss control director, Mr Charlton Chihuri (40); Mrs Anna Mutombodzi (50), Commissioner of Customs and Excise; Mr Tjiyapo Velempini (49), director ICT and Infrastructural Development; Mr Clive Charles Majengwa (52), director internal audit; and, Mrs Sithokozile Thembani Mrewa (47), director human resources.

This comes amid reports that Zimra was losing millions of dollars to dealers who processed counterfeit undervalued import documents to smuggle vehicles and other products into the country.

Zimra board chairperson Mrs Willia Bonyongwe confirmed the suspensions.

Gershem Pasi

In one of the incidents, two Harare men were arrested on allegations of processing import documents to smuggle in six vehicles through Beitbridge Border Post, prejudicing the State of $157 500,24.

Timoth Simfukwe (39) and Liberty Tinashe Mahembe (30) this week appeared before Harare Magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe, who remanded them to May 27 on $500 bail each.

They are facing six counts of fraud for offences committed between June last year and January this year.

Simfukwe is the director of Eftrade Ventures, while Mahembe is employed by Vonlet Trading Private Limited as a manager.

The two are accused of hatching plans to undervalue cars and preparing counterfeit import documents for Chihuri, Mutombodzi, Velempini, Majengwa and Mrewa.

All of them had received loans ranging between $90 000 and $120 000 to purchase Toyota Land Cruiser and Toyota Prado vehicles.

They all handed their money to Simfukwe on separate occasions last year who then used the same method of operation, conniving with Mahembe to process the fake documents. Source: Herald