HARARE – Businessman Genius Kadungure was remanded in custody Wednesday after he was charged with fraud.
Chief magistrate Chrispen Mberewere would consider Kadungure’s bail bid overnight before delivering his ruling on Thursday.
Kadungure, a liquefied petroleum gas trader, was arrested on Tuesday on fraud allegations relating to the importation of a Bentley Continental GT, which the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) says was deliberately undervalued with an intention to defraud the state by paying less customs duties.
Alexander Gumbo, a clearing agent, is listed as Kadungure’s co-accused but is yet to appear in court.
Kadungure, through his lawyer Jonathan Samkange, denied the allegations.
The complainant is ZIMRA represented by Lovemore Chigwanda.
State papers show that Kadungure bought his Bentley for US$3,281,784 but he allegedly presented forged paperwork indicating a purchase price of US$1.9 million.
“In 2019 accused went to LSM distributors private limited trading as Bentley Joburg situated in Melrose, Johannesburg, and bought a Bentley for US$3,281,784. When he arrived at the Beitbridge Post on the Zimbabwe side, accused connived with his agent Alexander Gumbo and forged the vehicles value to read US$1.9 million,” alleged prosecutor, George Manokore.
Manokore said the duo allegedly scanned the forged documents before uploading them on the ZIMRA system for duty processing on December 22 last year.
It is alleged that ZIMRA Beitbridge then acted upon the misrepresentation to charge duty amounting to US$81,000 instead of US$139,665 leading to an actual prejudice of US$58,665 to ZIMRA for the unpaid duty.
Last month, Kadungure was ordered by the High Court to pay an extra US$58,655.09 duty on top of the US$81,469 already paid to ZIMRA before authorities decided to file criminal charges.
The wealth-flaunting Kadungure is currently out on bail facing tax evasion charges. Prosecutors say he imported liquefied petroleum gas worth millions of dollars without paying customs duties.
