Harare Businesswoman Arrested For Using Fake Rebate Letters To Import Cars
Harare businesswoman Hezel Mafu and Emmanuel Nyagano allegedly used fake civil servants rebate exemption letters to import vehicles, leading to their arrest.
The accused purchased a Toyota Sienta 2013 model from Japan, forged a civil servants rebate letter in the name of Dumiso Sibanda from the Home Affairs ministry without his consent, and used it to import the vehicle.
They misled Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officials into believing that Mafu was a civil servant and collected the car without paying duty. The vehicle was registered in Sibanda’s name and was used as a pirate taxi in the city.
They repeated the same process in September 2022, importing another vehicle, a Toyota Sentra 2014 model from Japan using a forged rebate letter in the name of Erick Chemhere employed by the Defence Ministry. The accused avoided paying import duty, and they again made it a pirate taxi. The State alleges that ZIMRA lost US$13,500 in potential import duty revenue, although some of the motor vehicles were recovered.
ZIMRA in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) recently launched an operation initiated to prevent the misuse of tax rebates granted to civil servants by the government to import vehicles duty-free. About 36 vehicles have been seized while many car dealers in Harare and other areas were arrested for importing vehicles using fake civil service rebate letters.
