A SOUTH AFRICA-BASED Zimbabwean professor was kidnapped by eight men who wanted to rob him of cryptocurrency coins worth US$13 billion, a court has heard.
Moses Chademana (60), who was remanded out of custody to June 13 on US$1 000 bail, appeared before Harare regional magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa facing two counts of kidnapping and impersonation involving the abduction of Sheperd Sikhosana and his wife Sekayi Adelpha.
Prosecutor Lancelot Mutsokoti alleged that on May 13, 2024, Chademana together with his accomplices in South Africa hatched a plan to kidnap Sikhosana and his wife in the neighbouring country.
The court heard that Chademana’s accomplices who claimed to be from Interpol, included five blacks and two whites.
According to court documents, the accused persons visited Sikhosana and quizzed him on why he was involved with Falcon Gold Digital Forensic and Crypto Recovery Services.
Sikhosana informed them that he engaged the company to recover his wife’s hacked crypto coins.
The alleged kidnappers reportedly misrepresented to the couple that some Russians had been hired to assassinate them and then ordered the couple into their vehicle, saying they were taking them to Interpol Zimbabwe for further interviews.
Mutsokoti alleged that the kidnappers drove the complainants from Johannesburg, and crossed the Beitbridge border without going through immigration processes.
- Zim professor kidnapped in SA
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Sikhosana and his wife were handed over to Chademana at an Engen service station in Beitbridge.
Chademana and one of his accomplices who is still at large allegedly introduced themselves as detectives from Interpol Harare and dispossessed Sikhosana of his cellphones before driving them to Harare where they booked them at a lodge. The kidnappers warned the couple against raising alarm.
On May 19, 2024, Chademana’s accomplices in South Africa informed him that an official kidnapping report had been filed, prompting Chademana to force Sikhosana to lie to his relatives that he had visited Zimbabwe.
The complainants allegedly took advantage of the absence of their kidnappers to notify one of their relatives about the kidnapping and sent their geographical location leading to the suspect’s arrest.
