A Harare magistrate heard on Thursday that businessman Mike Chimombe and his colleague Moses Mpofu, who are facing fraud charges, were difficult to arrest.
The two allegedly defrauded the state of US$7 million through the Presidential Goat Scheme.
After their initial court appearance on Wednesday, the State, represented by Anesu Chirenje, objected to their release on bond. Gamuchirai Zimunhu, an investigating officer for the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), testified in favor of the State’s plea, claiming that the two individuals were uncooperative during their detention.
“They will continue to interfere with investigations since they visited our offices, took videos, and shared them on social media,” Zimunhu clarified.
Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu
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People who believe ZACC catches and releases suspects may lose faith in the legal system, which could lead to public disorder.
He went on to say that Mpofu and Chimombe might run away and described how hard it was to find them on Tuesday, June 25. “We looked for them for the majority of the day, but they weren’t at their homes.
When Mr. Chapwanya, a different investigating officer, called Mr. Mugiya on Monday after they had left to let him know that we would want to meet his client, Mr. Chimombe stated he was not in Harare and that Mpofu was at his farm in Zvimba. They did not arrive by 6 p.m. as promised.
After that, Mr. Mugiya said he would bring them on Tuesday, but they didn’t arrive until midday. Zimunhu stated that Mr. Chapwanya notified Mugiya that teams had been sent to look for his customers because they had grown recalcitrant.
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On Wednesday, Chimombe and Mpofu finally gave themselves in.
