Zacc HQ cost inflated by $480 000: Report

via Zacc HQ cost inflated by $480 000: Report – NewsDay Zimbabwe July 6, 2015

THE 2014 audit reports by Auditor-General Mildred Chiri have revealed that the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc)might have might have inflated the cost of its headquarters in Mt Pleasant, Harare, by $480 000.

by VENERANDA LANGA

In her 2014 audit reports of State enterprises and parastatals, Chiri said her auditors could not verify the accuracy of prepayment made by Zacc in relation to the acquisition of the building which was valued at $1 680 000.

Chiri also said there was a risk of financial loss due to possible fraudulent disposal of the property as Zacc had no title deeds for the building.

The auditor-general also noted discrepancies in petty cash transactions where there was an imbalance of $20 000.

“An enquiry with the estate agent revealed that the cost of the building was $1 200 000 contrary to the $1 680 000 disclosed in the financial statements,” read the audit report by Chiri.

“The commission may therefore have been prejudiced of $480 000,” the report said.

“The building was not registered in the Anti-Corruption Commission name at the time of conclusion of this report. The property was owned by ISOTRON Enterprises and the commission used a shelf company through which they executed the purchase of the property.

“The secretariat opened a new bank account to facilitate transfer of funds from the Ministry of Home Affairs for the purchase of this building without the knowledge and authority of the commissioners. On December 31 2010 payment of the building was made through Perpetual Properties, a real estate agency. A visit to owners of Perpetual Properties said they had been instructed by the commission’s chief executive officer (Ngonidzashe Gumbo) to pay $1 200 000 to the owner of the building.”

The report said Perpetual Properties said the remaining $480 000 was distributed to certain individuals through instructions from Gumbo. Gumbo was in March this year sentenced to 10 years in jail for defrauding Zacc of $435 000 which he failed to account for after the estate agency had deducted its commission of $44 000 from $480 000.