HIGH Court judge Justice Pisirayi Kwenda yesterday sentenced Zanu PF central committee member Mike Chimombe to 17 years in jail, while his co-accused Moses Mpofu was slapped with 22 years, following their conviction of fraud involving US$7,7 million linked to a botched Presidential Goat Scheme tender.
Justice Kwenda, however, suspended three years on condition of good behaviour and a further four years on condition of restitution for Mpofu.
Mpofu will serve an effective 15 years in jail.
On Chimombe, the court suspended three years for five years on the condition that he will not repeat the same offence, while two years were suspended provided he restituted US$964 000.
Chimombe will spend an effective 12 years behind bars.
In his ruling, Justice Kwenda said the two used fraudulent documents, adding that fraud is about deception, and the minimum sentence for it was 20 years.
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He said Blackdeck (Pvt) Ltd was a fictitious company and the pair carefully planned the fraud, so that the officials from the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development ministry were convinced, leading to the issuance of a contract.
He added that the crime was sophisticated and was well executed, and, therefore, a non-custodial sentence was not appropriate considering its gravity.
Justice Kwenda ruled that Mpofu played a pivotal role in the commission of the crime since he used his political muscle to influence the acquisition of the tender.
Chimombe and Mpofu were convicted by the High Court after a long, drama-filled trial.
They have been in custody since their initial remand last year in June.
The court heard that the two falsified supporting documents in order to secure a tender to supply 500 000 goats to the Lands ministry under a presidential empowerment scheme.
The falsified documents were submitted with the bid for the purpose of meeting the requirements of the tender.
The requirements included a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority tax clearance certificate and a National Social Security Authority compliance certificate, both in the name of Blackdeck Livestock & Poultry (Pvt) Ltd.
Chimombe and Mpofu allegedly connived to submit the falsified documents, well aware that Blackdeck Livestock & Poultry (Pvt) Ltd was not registered in terms of the laws of Zimbabwe.
The State said by making such misrepresentation, the two intended to give the false impression that Blackdeck was a registered company and juristic person and
that its bid met tender requirements.
The State acted on the misrepresentation, thereby dealing with a non-existent entity and treating Blackdeck’s bid as valid, culminating in the acceptance of the allegedly invalid bid and the subsequent award of the tender to Blackdeck, to the prejudice of the State and competitors.
Blackdeck failed to fully discharge its obligations, causing prejudice to the State of US$7 712 197.