Bogus war vet arrested

A 51-year-old Shamva man was on Friday sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding the State of more than US$15 000 after posing as a liberation fighter and accessing benefits under the War Veterans' Compensation Fund.

Bindura magistrate Mr Ruramai Chitumbura, however, suspended two years of the sentence on condition that Moses Shambakumhanja repays the US$15 184 he accessed from the fund.

Prosecutor Ms Roseline Maurai told the court that Shambakumhanja lined himself for the facility at its inception in 1997 by claiming that he had undergone military training at Tembwe, Mozambique.

He had received US$15 184 since the introduction of the multi-currency system in 2009 but his luck ran out when the War Veterans' Inter-Ministerial Committee audited records in March 2014 and interviewed beneficiaries.