Award-winning businesswoman Hazel Silibaziso Mafu, who turns 36 on Saturday, was reportedly on the run for five months after police arrested her workers and said they wanted to question her over a string of fraud cases.
Mafu, the founder and chief executive of Hazel Motors Logistics, which trades as Hezy Motors Logistics, slipped out of the country in March, just weeks after her employees were arrested.
Police say she left Zimbabwe on 19 March and there is no official record of how or when she returned.
On 16 April, she told her followers on Facebook that she was in Osaka, Japan, concluding business deals. By then, police had been looking for her for two months.
According to the police, when they raided her offices in Milton Park, Harare, they found electronic gadgets being removed from the premises in an alleged attempt to cover her tracks.
During her time on the run, two warrants of arrest were issued against her.
She is accused of turning her Milton Park offices into a crime scene, where she allegedly defrauded scores of clients of US$624,958.96 and ZiG1,275,878.35 in an elaborate scheme.
Mafu appeared in court on Tuesday for bail consideration, but the State opposed bail. Prosecutors argued she was likely to interfere with witnesses, obstruct the course of justice and abscond if released.
Lead investigating officer Detective Sergeant Richard Maravanyika told Harare regional magistrate Jesse Kufa that police had obtained a search and seizure warrant to recover evidence from the company’s offices.
He said when detectives arrived at the premises, they intercepted a vehicle carrying the electronic gadgets they had intended to seize.
Investigations allegedly revealed that Mafu had ordered the equipment to be removed before the police search.
She was arrested on Friday after handing herself over to police in the company of her lawyer, five months after police began looking for her.
“This demonstrates her propensity to interfere with investigations and conceal evidence,” Det Sgt Maravanyika submitted.
The State also produced Mafu’s travel history from the Department of Immigration, which showed she left Zimbabwe through Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on 19 March 2026.
The lead investigating officer said this was after police had started looking for her following the arrest of her employees.
He told the court there is no official record of how she re-entered the country before later handing herself over to police in the company of her lawyer.
Detective Sergeant Maravanyika also told the court that two warrants of arrest were issued against Mafu on 14 May and 14 July this year after she failed to appear in court.
He argued that public confidence in the justice system would be undermined if she were granted bail, given the number of complainants and the seriousness of the allegations.
Det Sgt Maravanyika said several complainants reported that Mafu had told them they would not receive their vehicles while the matter remained under police investigation.
“In some instances, the accused promised to refund clients as a way of delaying the criminal proceedings,” he told the court.
The detective produced correspondence showing a refund settlement plan dated 20 April 2026 between complainant Charles Tatenda Mademutsa and the finance department of Hezy Motors Logistics, in which the company proposed to refund US$4,000.
The court heard that on 13 February 2026, while police were still looking for Mafu, four of her employees appeared in court facing fraud charges, but she remained at large.
Det Sgt Maravanyika told the court there is another pending case involving the company relating to allegations of obstructing the course of justice.
The State maintains that Mafu poses a flight risk and is likely to interfere with witnesses and ongoing investigations if released.
The bail application is expected to continue on Wednesday, with cross-examination of the witness by defence counsel Editor Mavuto.
More: H-Metro
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