Zimbabwe: NetOne CEO Granted U.S.$500 Bail in U.S.$1.2 Million Fraud Case

NetOne Cellular (Pvt) Ltd Chief Executive Officer, Raphael Mushanawani (60) has been granted US$500 bail after he appeared in court facing fraud charges involving more than US$1.2 million.

Mushanawani, who is the Group CEO and Accounting Officer of the state-owned mobile operator, appeared before Harare Magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa on Wednesday.

The state had opposed bail but the magistrate ruled that Mushanawani was not a flight risk.

"He is employed and a man of fixed abode," Gofa said in her ruling.

As part of his bail conditions, Mushanawani was ordered to surrender his passport to the clerk of court and not to interfere with State witnesses.

The complainant in the case is NetOne, represented by its Board Chairperson, Engineer Taurayi Maurukira.

According to the State, sometime in 2022, NetOne initiated a procurement process to replace its SAGE 1000 system with a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The tender was approved by the NetOne board, with Farevic Systems (Pvt) Ltd awarded the contract worth US$2,422,500 to supply and implement the SAP system.

Prosecutors allege that while Farevic was still implementing the project, Mushanawani, acting in connivance with other NetOne managers who are yet to be arrested, devised a scheme to siphon company funds. He allegedly misled the Executive Management Committee and the board into believing that it was necessary to upgrade the old SAGE 1000 system, which was already being phased out.

Through this misrepresentation, Mushanawani allegedly signed a separate contract with Lunartech Solutions (Pvt) Ltd worth US$257,600 for the so-called SAGE 1000 upgrade. He later signed several addendums, inflating the cost of the project to US$1.2 million.

To date, NetOne has allegedly paid Lunartech US$654,331.60 without the knowledge or approval of the board.

The State further alleges that Mushanawani and his accomplices fraudulently committed the company to a separate consultancy contract with Diztech valued at US$79,467.49, even though the same services were already included and paid for under the original Farevic contract.

As a result, NetOne was allegedly prejudiced of US$654,331.60, with a potential further prejudice of US$625,135.89.

Mushanawani is expected back in court on October 22 for his routine remand.

Read the original article on New Zimbabwe.