Source: Police bosses in $20k extortion racket – DailyNews Live
Tarisai Machakaire 19 May 2017
HARARE – Two senior police officers have been accused of engineering an
extortion scam in which a Chinese national reportedly lost $20 000.
The two police bosses allegedly enlisted the services of Delish Nguwaya,
32, Zano Vengai, 33, Clever Gadzikwa, 36, and Mbereki Mbizo Nyathi, 44, to
pose as law enforcement personnel in the extortion scam.
The four are being charged with extortion before Harare regional
magistrate Temba Kuwanda.
In an affidavit attached to Nguwaya’s application for referral of the case
to the Constitutional Court (Con-Court), he claimed that superintendents
Nyarai Majachani and another only identified as Tachiona had masterminded
the scam and admitted they shared the extorted money.
Tachiona is alleged to have hired Nguwaya and his accomplices in a bid to
beef up numbers and pounce on Chinese businessman Baonini Guo, the
co-owner of Valedge Investment Ltd, specialising in maize milling and
cornflakes manufacturing before intimidating and extorting $19 900 from
him in return for protection of his business interests.
Allegations are that on June 13 last year, Zano, Gadzikwa and Nguwaya
presented themselves to Guo as members of the CID, President’s Office and
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and wanted to check his company’s documents.
It is alleged they took $19 900 from the complainant, who together with
his partner believed the suspects were on a sanctioned law enforcement
operation.
The Chinese businessman decided not to report the matter.
On August 17, the complainant reported the matter after discovering that
he had been duped.
“After the complainant had surrendered his money to Tachiona, I went to
his office and found Gadzikwa counting money on the table,” Nguwaya said
in his affidavit.
“Tachiona was apportioning it and I was given $500 and the rest to
Majachani and others.
“The following day I received intelligence that Tachiona had returned to
Guo to extort more money and in exchange, was never investigated for the
offence he was facing.”
Nguwaya’s lawyer Jonathan Samukange’s basis for referral of the case to
the Con-Court was that his client was tricked by police, who promised him
immunity from prosecution by turning him into a State witness but later
turned tables.
Nguwaya claims that Majachani fabricated charges against him and
threatened to allegedly manipulate the prosecution for him to be jailed.
“I spent over a month in remand prison after drugs and a sex enhancing
pill was planted in my car. Majachani openly told me that I was going to
jail for good because I had crossed her line when I divulged information
about her illegal dealings,” added Nguwaya.
“…at some instances she would even assault me just to humiliate me in
the presence of her subordinates and I have only been made a sacrificial
lamb for the crimes she participated in.”
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