BY Staff Reporter
PETER Muchakazi (56), an officer in the army’s procurement department, who was the key figure in a fraud case involving over US$20 million plundered from the Defence ministry, has died a day before he was due to stand trial.
Muchakazi died on Sunday night after complaining of chest pains.
Defence ministry secretary Mark Grey Marongwe, confirmed Muchakazi’s death, but could not shed light on the cause of his death.
“The family of the deceased will be in a better position to comment about how he died,” Marongwe told an online publication, Zimlive.
Muchakazi was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) in January for producing fake documents claiming $306 135 as payment for cleaning services rendered to the ministry by a company called Maids on Wheels.
Believed to be the leader of a well-planned scheme of fake invoices, he was accused alongside Jonathan Tandangu, Dhuvai Muzenda and Maria Fungisai Chiurira.
Zacc investigations into the murky deals have implicated top army officers as well as civilian employees.
