Story by Tichaona Kurewa
Another Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officer stationed at Victoria Falls border post has appeared in court facing charges of criminal abuse of office.
This comes after two other ZIMRA officers were arrested at the weekend facing similar charges.
The accused, Jean Felix Kudaro, a ZIMRA customs officer stationed at the Victoria Falls Border post, is alleged to have unlawfully facilitated the import of 10 motor vehicles older than 10 years, in violation of Statutory Instrument 54 of 2024.
The alleged offenses occurred between January and December 2024.
The prosecution alleges that Kudaro received electronic and manual documents from clients and allegedly completed valuation processes, altered vehicle chassis numbers and submitted the falsified documents to the supervisor for approval.
The alleged manipulation of chassis numbers was reportedly done to deceive the supervisor during the vehicle age verification process.
After obtaining supervisory approval based on the altered information, the accused allegedly entered the correct chassis numbers into the ASYCUDA World System.
It is further alleged that he also altered the physical valuation sheets or replace the documents previously submitted to the supervisor with the correct details before final processing.
The accused is also alleged to have released the vehicles without recording them in the release register and ensuring their registration, as required by station standing instructions.
The alleged offenses came to light when a vehicle, which had not yet physically arrived in Zimbabwe, was discovered to have already been registered.
The accused was denied bail and will be back in court on the 17th of February for continuation of trial.
Meanwhile, two other ZIMRA officers – Philip Kuvenga and Rangariraishe Zingwe facing similar charges have been denied bail.
