Two senior employees of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) have appeared in court accused of masterminding a sophisticated cyber fraud that cost the tax authority more than US$6.34 million.

The accused are Shupikai Mary Nicola Marongwe (52), a database administrator, and Paradzai Mutasa (35), a systems developer.

The two appeared before Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa, who remanded them in custody to this Friday pending bail finalisation.

Both were entrusted with managing ZIMRA's critical tax systems, but now stand charged with abusing their positions for personal gain.

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According to prosecutor Rufaro Chonzi, the pair exploited their roles during the rollout of the Zimbabwe Electronic Single Window (ZESW) project, which was designed to integrate with the ASYCUDA customs system. Instead of creating a limited-access account as requested by a United Nations consultant working on the project, they allegedly built a hidden account with full administrative rights.

"Using this backdoor, they manipulated clearing agents' prepayment accounts, inserting fictitious deposits to make it appear as if customs duties had been paid. In reality, no money was received by ZIMRA. "

The agents were then able to clear goods duty-free while the accused allegedly collected cash from them, sharing the proceeds.

The scam ran undetected for months, with prosecutors telling the court that "by abusing their positions, the accused acted contrary to their duties as public officers, showing favour to themselves and prejudice to ZIMRA."

Nothing has been recovered from the multi-million-dollar fraud.

The two were remanded in custody pending finalisation of their bail hearing.