US$6.34m Vanishes in Alleged ZIMRA Cyber Heist

Two senior Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officials have been hauled before the courts over allegations of orchestrating a cyber fraud scheme that siphoned more than US$6.3 million from the tax collector.

The accused, Shupikai Mary Nicola Marongwe (52), a database administrator, and Paradzai Mutasa (35), a systems developer, were brought before Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa. They were remanded in custody until Friday while their bail application is considered.

Prosecutors allege that the pair, who were responsible for managing ZIMRA’s sensitive tax systems, abused their authority for personal enrichment.

State counsel Rufaro Chonzi told the court that during the implementation of the Zimbabwe Electronic Single Window (ZESW) project—linked to the ASYCUDA customs system—the two were asked by a United Nations consultant to create a restricted-access user account. Instead, they allegedly engineered a concealed account with full administrator privileges.

Through this hidden access, they are accused of tampering with clearing agents’ prepayment accounts by inserting fake deposits. This gave the impression that customs duties had been settled when, in fact, ZIMRA had not received any funds.

With the system showing duties as paid, goods were cleared without payment while the accused allegedly pocketed cash from the agents, later sharing the illicit proceeds.

The alleged scheme went undetected for several months. Prosecutors argued that by exploiting their positions, the two “acted against their obligations as public officers, granting undue advantage to themselves while prejudicing ZIMRA.”

Authorities confirmed that none of the millions lost through the fraud has been recovered.

The duo remains in custody as the court finalises its decision on bail.

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