Man In Court Over $2 Million Zimra Fraud

Manase Manjovha (34) from Bulawayo appeared in court after he was arrested for attempting to defraud Zimra of over $2 million.

Manjovha allegedly connived with Zimra’s systems administrator Stephen Moreka who was arrested and taken to court last year. Following Moreka’s arrest, Manjovha went into hiding and was declared a wanted person by the police. He then fraudulently obtained new identity documents under a different name. Manjovha was arrested at the American Embassy where he had gone to apply for a visa using the fake documents. He appeared in court yesterday before magistrate Mrs Rumbidzai Mugwagwa facing fraud and “unauthorised access to a computer or computer network” charges. He was remanded in custody to today for bail ruling. The State led by Sebastian Mutizirwa opposed bail.

Sometime in April last year, Moreka and Manjovha opened several bank accounts. Moreka who was on sick leave, accessed the Zimra paynet server. They allegedly connived and uploaded three files into the paynet system with a total of $2 385 073,20 without Zimra’s permission. The duo allegedly directed Zimra to make payments into the bank accounts they had opened. They allegedly cleared all server logs and deleted files. However, the deleted files were recovered by Zimra’s accountant who then reported the matter to the superiors.