Ex-Zimra staffer falsified import of over 400 cars
A FORMER employee at the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Yvonne Tambudzai Musoni, allegedly hacked her boss’ electronic signature and used it to fraudulently approve the importation of more than 400 vehicles into Zimbabwe under the civil servants rebate scheme, it has emerged.
Her haul is more than 10 percent of the more than 3 000 vehicles illegally imported under the rebate scheme.
The scheme, designed to make it much easier for a long-serving civil servant to buy their own car for personal use, has been abused, with several individuals and Zimra officers at border posts appearing in court for fraud and money laundering charges, after allegedly using forged civil service rebate letters to import vehicles for resale.
A joint operation by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and Zimra has established that more than 3 000 vehicles were illegally imported through the abuse of tax rebates introduced for civil servants in 2019.
Musoni, an office assistant at the Zimra Harare Port, allegedly hacked into the computer of her supervisor, Mr Philbert Muchechetere, and phished out his electronic signature and illegally assumed the duties of signing and stamping rebate letters.
This emerged in the evidence presented before High Court judge Justice Benjamin Chikowero by the Prosecutor General’s office for a freezing order against Musoni’s suspected tainted property, last week.
In a statement to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission after a joint crack team launched a probe into the civil servants’ rebate scheme at the revenue authority, Mr Muchechetere disclosed how the scam unfolded.
His statement centred on the process required for one to qualify for the scheme and the internal investigation the revenue authority conducted.
Mr Muchechetere said sometime in April 2023, he received an e-mail from Beitbridge Border post shift supervisor, Ms Winfred Chiyangwa, requesting him to confirm the authenticity of two civil servants rebate letters which had his signature appended on them.
After perusing the files register, Mr Muchechetere said he discovered there was no trail showing that rebate letters in question had originated from their office.
“I then notified Winfred Chiyangwa that those rebate letters were fake,” he said. “Being suspicious of Yvonne Tambudzai Musoni, I launched investigations into Beitbridge Border Post clearances of public
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servants vehicles.”
Mr Muchechetere said he went into the AsycudaWorld system and discovered a number of vehicles which had been cleared under rebate, but did not appear in the Harare port register.
“I raised the alarm and appraised Beitbridge management and my regional manager of the developments,” said Mr Muchechetere.
“Enlisting the cooperation of Beitbridge, I unearthed over 400 fake rebate letters within two weeks of launching the investigation.”
Mr Muchechetere said the Zimra internal audit division then embarked on targeted audits into public servants’ rebates and it was established that there were plenty of fake civil servants rebate letters, that had been used to import vehicles by different individuals through Zimbabwe’s various ports of entry, bearing his signature.
“The findings of the audit established that Yvonne Musoni was in possession of my electronic signature in her computer,” said Mr Muchechetere.
“On the strength of that audit finding, we established that Yvonne Tambudzai Musoni was the one confirming the fake rebate letters and inserting my electronic signature on them, taking advantage of the fact that she was the sole player in confirming the authenticity of public servants’ rebate letters issued through Harare office.”
After obtaining an authorisation letter from the Ministry for Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, a civil servant is required to scan and send the authorisation letter together with the recommendation letters from the parent ministry and Public Service Commission, invoice, bill of lading, a copy of their driver’s licence or a copy of the national identity card in cases, where one has got a certificate of competence, and a proof of residence and any other relevant documents to Zimra, through group e-mail for Harare public servants at rebate@zimra.co.zw for the issue of a rebate letter.
The Ministry of Finance would also send copies of all authorisation letters, together with a list of beneficiaries, straight to Zimra via the Zimra group e-mail so that when Zimra received applications for rebate letters from the civil servants for importation of vehicles under the Public Servant Motor Vehicle Rebate Scheme, it would be able to verify whether indeed the applicant has been granted authorisation to import the vehicle by the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion.
It is after this verification that Zimra would issue the rebate letter or decline the application because the Ministry of Finance had not authorised import of the vehicle.
Upon receiving an e-mail with the required documents from a civil servant, Musoni was responsible for downloading of all the attachments and would record it in a register. She would then transfer the hard copies to the registry department, who would then open a hard copy file, which is allocated a distinct file number which is specific to the particular application received.
The hard copy file created, together with the register, would then be forwarded to the supervisor, in this case Mr Muchechetere, for allocation to the designated officers, who would then check whether all the documents required are in the file.
After assessing and satisfying himself that the application met the set criteria, Mr Muchechetere would proceed to physically sign and stamp the rebate letter or would have Musoni stamp the signed letters, which a successful civil servant would present at the port of entry during the vehicle clearance.
In turn, Zimra revenue officers at the ports of entry would send a request for confirmation at the group e-mail of the authenticity of rebate letters presented to them by civil servants intending to import vehicles using the rebate scheme.
According to investigations, Mr Muchechetere established that Musoni ended up being the sole player confirming the authenticity of civil servants’ rebate letters through emails for Zimra Harare office, rather than these going through a team of officials, a process that, among other purposes, was meant to help make corruption very difficult.
Musoni, who is on the run amid reports that she is in Cape Town, South Africa, cannot sell or transfer the family house at the exclusive Mabvazuva Gated Estate on the outskirts of Harare, while US$47 500 in school fees deposited into the bank accounts of two private schools has been frozen, pending the State application for a civil forfeiture order against all her assets.
The Prosecutor-General, through Asset Management Unit director Mr Chris Mutangadura, last week successfully applied for a High Court order to freeze the property belonging to Musoni and her husband, Melusi, plus US$28 625 held in the bank accounts of Watershed College and US$18 940 in those of Lusitania Primary School, money assigned to school fees for their two children.
Musoni allegedly connived with noncivil servants to generate fake rebate letters to enable them to import vehicles into the country without paying duty.
Several people who colluded with Musoni have been arrested and prosecuted. She is yet to face the courts because she is now a fugitive from justice, and the hunt for her is continuing.