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Roman Catholic priest in court for fraud
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Plumtree - A Roman Catholic priest based at Embakwe Mission, Qinisela Wilfred Moyo, has been arraigned before the courts for allegedly generating a fake donation letter to fraudulently secure duty-free importation of a school bus.
Moyo, who is employed by the Roman Catholic Church and stationed at Embakwe High School, is jointly charged with Martin Nleya, the School Development Committee (SDC) Treasurer and a Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education employee based in Mangwe District.
The pair appeared before Plumtree magistrate Joshua Nembaware, who granted them bail of US$100 each.
According to the state, sometime in 2024, Martin Ndlovu, the head of Embakwe High School and signatory to the School Bank Account, applied for a loan from ZB Bank Plumtree to purchase a school bus. The application was witnessed by Nleya in his capacity as SDC Treasurer.
The loan was approved in September 2024, and payment was made to the seller in South Africa on 26 September 2024.
Intending to evade import duty, the accused allegedly generated a fake donation letter purporting that the bus had been donated to the school. This letter was submitted along with other application documents to secure a Duty-Free Exemption Certificate from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
The exemption was granted on 1 October 2024 by the Ministry's Permanent Secretary and collected by the accused. Nleya then traveled to South Africa to import the minibus via Beitbridge Border Post using the fraudulently obtained certificate.
ZIMRA, which had assessed the import duty for the bus at US$18,000, was misled into exempting the payment, thereby suffering actual prejudice of the same amount.
The matter came to light following investigations, and both accused have since been charged with fraud as defined under Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23].
Selestine Madziwa prosecuted.
Moyo, who is employed by the Roman Catholic Church and stationed at Embakwe High School, is jointly charged with Martin Nleya, the School Development Committee (SDC) Treasurer and a Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education employee based in Mangwe District.
The pair appeared before Plumtree magistrate Joshua Nembaware, who granted them bail of US$100 each.
According to the state, sometime in 2024, Martin Ndlovu, the head of Embakwe High School and signatory to the School Bank Account, applied for a loan from ZB Bank Plumtree to purchase a school bus. The application was witnessed by Nleya in his capacity as SDC Treasurer.
The loan was approved in September 2024, and payment was made to the seller in South Africa on 26 September 2024.
Intending to evade import duty, the accused allegedly generated a fake donation letter purporting that the bus had been donated to the school. This letter was submitted along with other application documents to secure a Duty-Free Exemption Certificate from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
The exemption was granted on 1 October 2024 by the Ministry's Permanent Secretary and collected by the accused. Nleya then traveled to South Africa to import the minibus via Beitbridge Border Post using the fraudulently obtained certificate.
ZIMRA, which had assessed the import duty for the bus at US$18,000, was misled into exempting the payment, thereby suffering actual prejudice of the same amount.
The matter came to light following investigations, and both accused have since been charged with fraud as defined under Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23].
Selestine Madziwa prosecuted.
Source - Byo24News
