POLICE in Bulawayo have arrested Jefat Chaganda, the chief suspect in the 14 kilogramme gold case that happened in Plumtree in 2018.
The case also resulted in the arrest of nine other suspects
that included a magistrate, prosecutor, lawyer, police officers and Johane
Masowe congregants. Chaganda (54), skipped bail last year and his lawyers,
Nyikadzino, Simango and Associates, told Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice
Thompson Mabhikwa, in court, that he was dead although they could not produce a
death certificate.
A warrant of arrest was immediately issued and more than a
year later, Chaganda was arrested last Wednesday in Emakhandeni after he
allegedly sneaked into the country from his hideout in South Africa.
He appeared before Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice
Evangilista Kabasa on Thursday and was immediately commuted to prison pending
finalisation of the gold case.
It has also emerged that Chaganda had other warrant of
arrests after two pending cases, one of which he was convicted by a Bulawayo
magistrate and sentenced to four years in prison but he appealed to the High
Court and was granted bail. While on bail, he also defaulted on his bail
conditions.
In one of the cases that exposed how gold is being smuggled
out of the country and how senior officials are allegedly also involved in the
rackets, Chaganda was arrested on 7 July 2018 in possession of 14kgs of the
yellow metal in a Botswana bound train.
According to State papers, Chiganda was in the company of
Sidingumuzi Ncube, a police officer at Plumtree who, however, ran away from the
train after discovering that they had been cornered by Zimbabwe Revenue (Zimra)
officials.
However, what later followed after the arrest of Chiganda
was a shocker as he allegedly working with a lawyer, a magistrate, a
prosecutor, police officers, and business people to release the gold which they
later sold to Fidelity Refiners and Printers for nearly US$400 000.
Investigations led to the arrest of nine more people, and
evidence gathered by the State showed that some had already splashed the money
on luxury cars, household property and even on girlfriends. Those who were
arrested regarding the same case were Plumtree regional magistrate Timeon
Tavengwa Makunde, area public prosecutor Stanley Chinyanganya, prominent Harare
lawyer Admire Rubaya, three police officers based at Plumtree-Ncube, Tyson
Ruvando and Ginger Vhiyano.
Two other police officers from the Minerals and Border
Control, Ladislous Tamboonei and Ladislous Tinacho were also arrested together
with Chaganda and Godfrey Makuvedze who are members of the Johane Masowe
eChishanu sect.
State papers indicate that the 10 suspects hatched a plan
or played a part to steal the gold that had been lawfully possessed by Zimra
and in a safe custody of the police. The State alleges that when Chaganda was
arrested with the 14kgs of gold, he later hatched a plan where he secured
services of a Bulawayo miner Lovemore Sibanda whose documents were used in
court to falsely claim the ownership of the seized gold.
Tinacho, a police officer then contacted lawyer Rubaya to
represent Chaganda. Another police officer Tambone allegedly gave false
evidence in court under cross-examination by Chiganda and the prosecutor
Chinyanganya and the magistrate Makunde allegedly adopted an armchair approach
to the proceedings.
The State seeks to prove that the prosecutor deliberately
concealed existence of the notice of seizure issued by Zimra while the
magistrate, without any evidence to support ownership of gold, processed an
order to release the gold to Sibanda.
When the gold was released, the State has a paper trail and
evidence from witnesses that showed how Chaganda then took the gold and sold it
to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe using Sibanda’s papers before those who played
a part in the criminal act got a cut from the loot.
For example according to the State, during investigations
police managed to recover from Chaganda, a white Mercedes Benz E320 bought for
US$10 000, a black Mercedes Benz E250 bought for US$33 000, a silver Mercedes
Benz bought for US$25 000 and a silver Jeep Cherokee bought for US$18 000.
Police also recovered US$39 750 and $520 bond notes that were kept at a
security company and meant to purchase a flat.
The papers also showed the prosecutor allegedly pocked
US$40 000 while the magistrate got US$60 000.
Police officers also got varying amounts of money in both
US dollars and Zim dollars. The nine are out on bail after the Supreme Court
lifted a High Court ruling which had revoked bail for them when Chaganda failed
to appear in court and his lawyer claimed that he had died. Sunday Mail
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