HARARE – Two senior Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) employees have appeared in court facing charges of defrauding the tax collector of more than ZiG171 million (US$6.34 million) and US$37,200 through a sophisticated cyber fraud scheme.

Shupikai Mary Nicola Marongwe, 52, a database administrator from Waterfalls, and Paradzai Mutasa, 35, a systems developer from Hatfield were remanded in custody to Friday for bail hearing following their brief appearance before magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa on Friday.

Both were public officers at ZIMRA, entrusted with administering and securing the institution’s critical tax systems.

Prosecutors told the court that the two masterminded the scam during the roll-out of the Zimbabwe Electronic Single Window (ZESW) project, designed to streamline permits, licences, and customs processes by linking with the ASYCUDA system.

In September 2024, a United Nations consultant working on the project requested a limited-access account for integration purposes. Instead, Marongwe and Mutasa allegedly created a backdoor account called “ZESWASYCUDA” with full administrative rights, in violation of ZIMRA’s change management policy.

Armed with these elevated privileges, the pair recruited clearing agents across the country and began manipulating prepayment accounts. They allegedly inserted fictitious deposits into ZIMRA’s database, creating the false impression that clearing agents had paid customs duties when in fact no money had reached ZIMRA’s bank accounts.

The scam allowed clearing agents to process import clearances without paying duty, while the accused collected hard cash from the agents and pocketed it.

“By abusing their positions, the accused acted contrary to their duties as public officers, showing favour to themselves and prejudice to ZIMRA,” the National Prosecuting Authority charges.

Investigations revealed that the fraud bled ZIMRA of over US$6.34 million in local currency and nothing has been recovered to date.

Rufaro Chonzi prosecuted.