By Crime and Courts Reporter- Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu forged tax clearance papers and used them to grab a government tender under the Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has revealed.

This came out after their court appearance on Wednesday, June 26, where the two are facing fraud charges.

In a statement, the NPA said the accused persons forged a ZIMRA Tax clearance certificate and an NSSA compliance certificate in the name of Blackdeck Private Limited and attached them in a bidding document which they submitted to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development for a tender for the supply and delivery of goats for the Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme.

Chimombe and Mpofu allegedly misrepresented that the company was in full compliance with ZIMRA and NSSA requirements.

However, investigations indicated that the QR code and the reference on the NSSA compliance certificate were issued to a different company.

It is further alleged that Blackdeck Private Limited was deregistered from the NSSA system in January 2016. 

The NPA said further investigations established that Blackdeck Private Limited was not issued with a ZIMRA tax clearance certificate for the year 2021 and that the QR code on the forged tax clearance certificate belonged to a different company. Said the NPA:

Acting on the misrepresentation, the Ministry of Lands contracted Blackdeck Private Limited on the 3rd of November2021.

The Ministry transferred ZWL901 294 200 and ZWL698 705 800 on the 21st of April 2022 and the 29th of June 2022respectively into their bank account.

The total amount was ZWL1.6 billion and was equivalent to USD7 712 197. Following delays in the delivery of the goats, the Ministry of Lands officials made several engagements with the accused persons.

The accused persons misrepresented that they had mobilized 32 500 goats across the provinces which were ready to be distributed to the beneficiaries.

However, a verification process revealed that the accused persons only had 3,713 goats in their holding sites.

The Ministry cancelled the contract on the 29th of August 2022, following the discovery.

Chimombe and Mpofu reportedly only supplied a total of 4 208 goats valued at US$331 445 and went on to convert US$7 380 751 to their personal use. Nothing was recovered.

The accused persons were remanded in custody by Harare Regional Magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa to Thursday, June 27, for bail hearing.