Bogus Zimra officials on the prowl

THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has said a group of people masquerading as its officials and purporting to be conducting audits are on the prowl.

In a notice on Thursday, the revenue authority said the fraudsters who are claiming to be conducting audits to issue Audits Clearance certificate or compliance clearance certificate are not their staff members.

"The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) wishes to advise its valued clients, members of staff and the public to be on the lookout for fraudsters posing as Zimra officials.

The fraudsters who are masquerading as Tax Auditors are using the following names, G. Munangatire, Mr P Ruwizhi, Mrs Munangatire, Mrs Dube and Mrs Nyakudya or other names," reads part of the notice.

"The imposters who are claiming to be conducting audits to issue audits clearance certificates or compliance clearance certificates are not Zimra staff members,".

Zimra said the fraudsters are sending SMSs to targeted victims alerting them on purported audits and subsequently soliciting for bribes to avoid being audited or having the results of the intended audit being altered in the taxpayers favor.

"Zimra employees have clearly defined work procedures and do not carry out business over unofficial personal media platforms such as SMS, WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook.

"Zimra clients should not be intimidated into unnecessarily parting with their money through actions of the bogus Zimra employees," read the statement," added the notice.

In May, police arrested four people who were masquerading as Zimra officials while extorting motorists along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Road.

The four suspects were targeting motorists coming from Beitbridge and claiming that their documents had some anomalies before extorting them.