Court Clears NetOne CEO of US$1.2 Million Fraud Allegations

NetOne Chief Executive Engineer Raphael Mushanawani has been removed from remand after a Harare regional magistrate ruled that there was no evidence linking him to the alleged US$1.2 million fraud.

Engineer Mushanawani argued that his arrest violated his rights, insisting that all actions taken regarding system upgrades were known and approved by his superiors.

Magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa agreed, stating that the transactions in question were openly conducted within the company and did not amount to any offence.

The allegations stemmed from NetOne’s transition from its SAGE 1000 accounting system to a new ERP platform.

The State claimed Mushanawani had improperly contracted Lunartech Solutions for an upgrade of the same system and later signed additional addendums that allegedly inflated costs without board approval.

His lawyer, Admire Rubaya, dismissed the accusations, saying investigators misunderstood NetOne’s IT operations.

He explained that upgrading to SAGE L200 was necessary after SAGE South Africa announced the end of support for the older system, and that the decision had already been endorsed by the board.

Rubaya also highlighted that no other individuals allegedly involved had been arrested, calling the charges baseless.

He further rejected claims that Mushanawani approved an unapproved consultancy deal with Diztech, stating that no such contract or payment existed.

The court’s decision concluded that the State failed to establish reasonable suspicion or contradict Mushanawani’s version of events, leading to his release from remand.