Two flamboyant businessmen, Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe, are to spend a night in prison cells after being remanded in custody following their court appearance on fraud charges.
Mpofu, aged 49, is the Managing Director of Blackdeck Water Limited, and his co-accused, Chimombe, 43, were in court today after the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) called them for questioning early Wednesday morning.
They are being represented by Ashriel Mugiya and Tapson Dzvetero.
The allegations against the two businessmen stem from events in 2021, when the Government of Zimbabwe, as part of the Rural Development Agenda, introduced the Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme aimed at alleviating poverty among less privileged households across the country's 10 provinces.
The government intended to buy special goat breeds for households and their village heads, planning to procure more than 500,000 goats for the scheme.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries, and Rural Development was tasked with implementing the program.
On September 3, 2021, the Ministry of Lands issued a tender (number MLARWD/HQ/CB/42/21) for the supply and delivery of goats for the Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme, with a closing date of September 17, 2021.
Four companies--Kotrum Enterprises Private Limited, Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming, Millytake Enterprises Private Limited, and Zvikomborero Farms Private Limited--submitted bids.
The accused, in an alleged attempt to defraud the government, submitted a bid from Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming, a company not registered and lacking valid ZIMRA Tax Clearance and National Social Security Authority (NSSA) compliance certificates.
They allegedly forged a ZIMRA Tax clearance certificate (ITF263) and an NSSA compliance certificate, misrepresenting that Blackdeck was in full compliance with ZIMRA and NSSA laws.
Investigations revealed that the QR code and reference number on the forged NSSA certificate belonged to Skywalk Investments, and Blackdeck Private Limited had been deregistered from the NSSA system since January 8, 2016.
ZIMRA also confirmed that Blackdeck Private Limited was never issued a tax clearance certificate for 2021.
Believing the forged documents to be genuine, the Ministry of Lands awarded the contract to Blackdeck on November 3, 2021. On November 16, 2021, the Ministry entered into a contract with Blackdeck for the supply of 632,001 goats, valued at US$87,757,168.00.
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The contract stipulated a 30% advance payment, and the Ministry transferred ZWL$1.6 billion (equivalent to US$7,712,197.10) to Blackdeck's CABS bank account.
After significant delays and numerous engagements, Ministry officials discovered that the accused had only 3,713 goats instead of the 32,500 claimed.
Consequently, the Ministry canceled the contract on August 29, 2022.
Further investigations established that the accused supplied only 4,208 goats valued at US$331,445.25, converting the remaining US$7,380,751.85 for personal use.
The court was told that the Ministry was deceived into believing the accused could supply the goats, causing actual prejudice of US$7,380,751.85, with no recovery of funds.
The duo will be back in court on Thursday.
