Source: Police boss, prosecutor arrested over stands scam – NewsDay Zimbabwe
THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption (Zacc) has arrested a police boss and a regional prosecutor implicated in the Harare City Council (HCC)’s Kuwadzana stands scam involving council employees.
By Richard Muponde/ Harriet Chikandiwa
Police Assistant Commissioner Obeylaw Moyo, who is the director of investigations in the Commercial Crimes Department (CCD), and Clemence Chimbare, a regional prosecutor at Harare Magistrates Courts, were not asked to plead when they appeared before regional magistrate Ngoni Nduna.
They were both remanded to August 17 on $3 000 bail each.
The matter has also sucked in chief magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi and Moyo’s juniors, who are investigators at the CCD, Claudious Majonga, Aaron Karuru and Naboth Nyachega.
Charges are that the two were bribed with unserviced residential stands by the council’s top employees, facing allegations of defrauding the council of at least over US$1 million through illegal land allocations.
The two were allegedly given offer letters between March and May 2020.
The HCC top brass has been under investigations for the past three years.
Council officials, who included human resources director Matthew Marara, Tapiwa Gona (head of public lighting), Tonderai Mukora (surveyor), Believer Mupandawana, Tineyi Kureva, Magaret Sarudzai George, Mazano Zvakanyorwa, Wellington Tauya, Austin Tapiwanashe, Rudo Pauline Chigocha, Timothy Majena, Bernard Mkuna and Kizito Chikowore, who are all on remand were allegedly the brains behind the scam.
In executing the plan, the HCC employees identified open spaces in Kuwadzana 3, 4, 5 and 6, and allegedly created a fictitious payment scheme and originated fake layout plans before they fraudulently connected water and created sundry accounts for the purpose of selling the stands to home seekers.
Thereafter, a total of 150 stands in Kuwadzana were allegedly handed over to Tapiwa Gona, who disposed of them through Northway Real Estate Agency without council approval.
Gona is already on remand over the same issue.
The money would be deposited into Gona’s personal account to be shared among the accomplices.
As a result of the alleged fraud, council suffered financial prejudice of US$1 141 779,50, being the value of the stands disposed of and nothing was recovered.
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