Letwin Mubonesi
THe Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has suspended at least 36 officers implicated in lifestyle audits, while processes are on-going at the High Court to forfeit the ill-gotten wealth. Lifestyle audits were carried out in terms of the Zimra code of conduct.
Zimra Commissioner-General Ms Faith Mazani said the taxman was working with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) who are handling cases where internal investigations would have pointed to corruption.
The audit was not only targeting ZIMRA officials, but the investigations also cover taxpayers who had questionable income.
She said, “Between January and June this year, a total of 36 officers were suspended pending investigation following lifestyle audits. Where criminality is detected, we hand over the cases to the police or other investigating arms. Already, processes are underway to recover ill-gotten wealth.
“We have a code of conduct which is applicable to our staff. One of the things that we did was to carry out lifestyle audits.
Where we feel they have assets beyond the income that we are aware of, we then ask them to explain the source of the income.That is when we found out quite several cases where our officers are building houses, going on holidays and buying cars beyond their expected lifestyles,” he said.
Comm-Gen Mazani said the asset forfeiture which was being done in terms of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act would not spare corrupt taxpayers.
“We are doing the same thing with taxpayers. When we approach taxpayers, we look at their assets and we ask them to explain how they acquired them and the sources of their income.We discovered that people were getting lots of income without declaring it,” she said.
Moreover Zimra, through the National Prosecuting Authority’s Assets Forfeiture Unit, has applied to forfeit mansions purchased by its former accounting officer Tapuwa Evans Chidemo.Chidemo drained off US$1 239 083 from the taxman’s bank account for his personal gain.
He has properties in which the state wants to forfeit, and the properties includes Number 215 Folyjon Crescent, Glen Lorne, Number 3036 Shawasha Hills, Glen Lorne, Flat 19, Derwent Lodge, No. 9 Josiah Chinamano Avenue, Harare, Stand Number 2800, 12th Parklane Court (Pvt) Ltd and Mercedes-Benz E-Class (ADN 5756).
Another ex-Zimra officer, Kennedy Nyatoti is in hot soup after the investigations that his lifestyle does not match his earnings as a revenue officer.
It is alleged that Nyatoti was employed by Zimra for only two years but he managed to buy an expensive stand in the upmarket Mabvazuva suburbs and completed to build a world class house, all worth over US$150 000, yet his total earnings for the period he served as a revenue officer is around US$44 000.
Nyatoti is also said to have bought vehicles for his wife, Tatenda Chisadza who was cited as the Second Respondent in the court application, his sister, Portia Nyatoti and his mother using State funds.
The State is also working on another application to forfeit suspected ill-gotten assets worth $762 000 from a couple formerly employed by Zimra. The couple, Tapfumaneyi Zunguza and his wife Cathrine Lajiwere employed by Zimra as revenue supervisor and revenue officer, respectively and during their tenure they acquired 2 residential stands in Mainway Meadows, Waterfalls in 2009.
They also bought a Mazda BT50 twin cab for $40 000, but as per requirement with their employer, they were supposed to declare the assets from time to time. However, during the time which the couple acquired the property, their lawful income amounted to $60 053,13 collectively.
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