Court Writer
A warrant for the arrest of fraud suspect Manase Manjovha remains outstanding, months after his associate, Gladston Mthulisi Tshabalala, was jailed for attempting to defraud a local security company of US$229 000.
Manjovha, whose last known address is in Bulawayo, skipped bail weeks Manjovha, whose last known address is in Bulawayo, skipped bail weeks before the conclusion of a trial that saw Harare magistrate Tildah Mazhande sentencing Tshabalala to 30 months’ imprisonment in March. Mazhande suspended 18 months of Tshabalala’s sentence on condition of good behaviour, leaving him to serve an effective 12 months.
As Tshabalala inches closer to completing his sentence, police are still hunting for Manjovha, one of the three men charged with orchestrating an internet banking scam through which they sought to defraud the company.
The third fraudster, Dalumuzi Moyo, died before the conclusion of the trial.
Tshabalala was convicted on the strength of overwhelming evidence extracted by investigators from the trio’s mobile phones, which proved that they planned to defraud the company in September 2024.
Key state witness and Econet agent Taurai Mushamba also implicated the three in his testimony during the trial.One of the security company’s managers, Cephas Ngorima, was the complainant in the matter.
The state proved that on September 12, 2024, Manjovha approached Mushamba, who operates an Econet booth at the corner of First Street and George Silundika Avenue in Harare, and requested the replacement of a mobile phone SIM card for a line belonging to the security company’s director. The line is linked to the company’s Nedbank Nostro account.
Mushamba asked Tshabalala to bring the registered owner of the line and to provide the address supplied when the line was first registered.Tshabalala, Manjovha, and Moyo later approached Mushamba and claimed that one of them was the owner of the line whose SIM card they wanted replaced.
Mushamba noticed that none of the three men’s faces matched the photograph on the national identity card they tendered. He also noted that the address they provided did not match the one supplied when the line was first registered.
When Mushamba went to the nearest police base to report the matter, the trio sensed danger and sped off in their Toyota Aqua.Mushamba was then approached by Jefferes Chipwanyira, who offered a US$50 token for the replacement of the SIM card. Mushamba contacted the police, leading to Chipwanyira’s arrest.
During interrogation, Chipwanyira revealed that he had been assigned by Manjovha to carry out the task, and offered to assist investigators. On September 13, 2024, officers from Harare Central Police Station and the Harare Homicide section used Chipwanyira to lure the trio from their Bulawayo base. Investigators instructed Chipwanyira to call Manjovha, Tshabalala, and Moyo, telling them that he had secured a new SIM card.Chipwanyira obliged and told the trio to travel to Harare to collect the new SIM card and the one-time password (OTP), which would be used to siphon the US$229 000 held in the company’s targeted account.
The three made their way to the capital, intending to meet Chipwanyira, but were intercepted in Norton, where they tried to flee, leaving their Toyota Aqua behind. Police arrested them and seized the vehicle and four mobile phones, which were taken to the Cyber Laboratory.
A forensic examination revealed that the phones contained information related to the attempted fraud case under investigation.According to the state outline, there was clear evidence that the trio intended to defraud the security company.
Ends the conclusion of a trial that saw Harare magistrate Tildah Mazhande sentencing Tshabalala to 30 months’ imprisonment in March. Mazhande suspended 18 months of Tshabalala’s sentence on condition of good behaviour, leaving him to serve an effective 12 months.
As Tshabalala inches closer to completing his sentence, police are still hunting for Manjovha, one of the three men charged with orchestrating an internet banking scam through which they sought to defraud the company. The third fraudster, Dalumuzi Moyo, died before the conclusion of the trial.
Tshabalala was convicted on the strength of overwhelming evidence extracted by investigators from the trio’s mobile phones, which proved that they planned to defraud the company in September 2024. Key state witness and Econet agent Taurai Mushamba also implicated the three in his testimony during the trial.
One of the security company’s managers, Cephas Ngorima, was the complainant in the matter. The state proved that on September 12, 2024, Manjovha approached Mushamba, who operates an Econet booth at the corner of First Street and George Silundika Avenue in Harare, and requested the replacement of a mobile phone SIM card for a line belonging to the security company’s director.
The line is linked to the company’s Nedbank Nostro account. Mushamba asked Tshabalala to bring the registered owner of the line and to provide the address supplied when the line was first registered.Tshabalala, Manjovha, and Moyo later approached Mushamba and claimed that one of them was the owner of the line whose SIM card they wanted replaced.
Mushamba noticed that none of the three men’s faces matched the photograph on the national identity card they tendered. He also noted that the address they provided did not match the one supplied when the line was first registered. When Mushamba went to the nearest police base to report the matter, the trio sensed danger and sped off in their Toyota Aqua.
Mushamba was then approached by Jefferes Chipwanyira, who offered a US$50 token for the replacement of the SIM card. Mushamba contacted the police, leading to Chipwanyira’s arrest. During interrogation, Chipwanyira revealed that he had been assigned by Manjovha to carry out the task, and offered to assist investigators. On September 13, 2024, officers from Harare Central Police Station and the Harare Homicide section used Chipwanyira to lure the trio from their Bulawayo base. Investigators instructed Chipwanyira to call Manjovha, Tshabalala, and Moyo, telling them that he had secured a new SIM card.Chipwanyira obliged and told the trio to travel to Harare to collect the new SIM card and the one-time password (OTP), which would be used to siphon the US$229 000 held in the company’s targeted account. The three made their way to the capital, intending to meet Chipwanyira, but were intercepted in Norton, where they tried to flee, leaving their Toyota Aqua behind.
Police arrested them and seized the vehicle and four mobile phones, which were taken to the Cyber Laboratory. A forensic examination revealed that the phones contained information related to the attempted fraud case under investigation.
According to the state outline, there was clear evidence that the trio intended to defraud the security company.