A MUTARE man and his accomplice appeared in court yesterday facing allegations of hacking the Forex Access system, a money transfer firm and fraudulently withdrawing US$220 000 last year.
Ngonidzashe Lison Dhubiyo (29) and Terrence Mashumba (38) appeared before Harare magistrate Isheunesu Matova facing two counts of fraud and money laundering.
They were remanded in custody to Monday for bail consideration.
The complainant is Access Forex (Pvt) Ltd being represented by the auditor Patson Makina.
The complainant is in the business of sending and collecting money internationally.
Dhubiyo is employed by another money transfer firm in Mutare, while Mashumba is employed by the Agriculture ministry at Forbes Border Post in Mutare.
Prosecutor Rufaro Chonzi alleged that in January 2023, the two connived with one Tinashe Jonah Sithole, who is yet to be arrested, to defraud Access Forex.
The accused persons fraudulently gained access into complainant’s money remittance platform.
They then reportedly created fraudulent money remittance transactions originating from the United Kingdom.
The fraudulent transactions would be processed and then withdrawn by the accused persons, yet nothing would have been send from the United Kingdom.
They allegedly did this from January to October 2023, sending money to their personal mobile number accounts in Zimbabwe.
The accused persons would personally collect the money from any Access Forex point in the country.
In total, they sent to themselves and collected a total of US$220 065.
After collecting cash, they purchased vehicles and electrical household gadgets.
The offence was discovered when complainant checked and audited the system.
The two were arrested in Mutare and two vehicles, a Toyota Hiace and Nissan Note, purchased using proceeds of the alleged offence,
were recovered from the accused persons.
