AN Esigodini resident appeared in court yesterday charged with smuggling an Isuzu vehicle through the Beitbridge Border Post.
BY SILAS NKALA
Thembinkosi Sibanda (37) of Habane Township Extension denied the charge when he appeared before Esigodini magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa.
He was remanded out of custody for continuation of trial on Friday.
Prosecutor Jefter Nyikadzinashe told the court that sometime in 2015, Sibanda crossed the border into South Africa where he bought an Isuzu station wagon.
It is alleged that Sibanda did clearance formalities in South Africa as he de-registered the car and obtained a SARPPCO clearance certificate.
The court heard that Sibanda went to Beitbridge Border Post where he allegedly did not produce the SARPPCO clearance certificate and also skipped paying duty for the vehicle.
Instead he allegedly declared the motor vehicle using a temporary import permit.
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On March 12, 2015, Sibanda allegedly fraudulently registered the car with the Zimbabwe Central Vehicle Registry and obtained number plates ADQ8904, a registration book and a third number plate.
On February 13, 2018 detectives received a tip-off that the car had allegedly been smuggled into the country and impounded it.
Inquiries were made with Zimbabwe Revenue Authority who inspected the vehicle and confirmed that it had been fraudulently imported from South Africa.
The car was then seized. The value of the vehicle was $3844,75 and the government was prejudiced of revenue amounting to $3690,96.
