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Nyore Madzianike, Harare Bureau
Alleged extortionists Felix Rimaunga (52) and Brian Nyazamba (41), who were allegedly passing themselves as officials of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) while extorting money since 2019 from politicians, and top private and public company executives, were yesterday denied bail by a Harare magistrate.

Harare regional magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje ruled that Rimaunga and Nyazamba, who would threaten their targets with arrests and prosecution, were unlikely to attend their trial once freed on bail.

Mr Mambanje said that the two merely denied the allegations when they applied for bail saying there was overwhelming evidence linking them to the offence.

There were a lot of items including network lines that were used in commissioning of the alleged offence.

Rimaunga and Nyazamba are charged with nine counts of extortion.

Mr Mambanje in his ruling said there was high possibility of conviction for the two considering the amount of evidence in the hands of the prosecution.

“The State’s fears that they would not return to court is justifiable,” he said.

Mr Lancelot Mutsokoti had submitted that the two were likely to face a lengthy custodial sentence that might induce them to flee.

In their bail application made through lawyer Mr Lucky Dube, the two submitted that they never received money from anyone to sustain the extortion charge.

They had also denied calling or pressurising anyone into giving them money.

Rimaunga and Nyazamba were said to have been working with Fortune Torima and Jacob Kuzinya, who are still at large, according to the State.

Nyazamba was responsible for profiling and submitting findings to Rimaunga and Torima, who would then instruct Kuzinya to manufacture fake documents and open bank accounts, according to the State.

Rimaunga and Nyazamba called their victims informing them that Zacc was investigating them on allegations of corruption and their dockets were nearing completion, and they would be referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for prosecution.

They would then allegedly demand cash in United States dollars, EcoCash, Mukuru.com or Mojo Mula transfers or bank transfers.

The first casualty, according to the State, was Cassius Gambinga who is employed by the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe, who was allegedly being investigated on several cases of corruption.

One of them allegedly passed himself as Zacc Commissioner Chimbwanda and demanded US$1 400 and $5 000 in order for them to close the alleged corruption cases.

Out of suspicion, Gambinga approached Zacc offices to get full details of his corruption allegations and was told that they were not Zacc employees.

City of Harare district officer for Mufakose, Ms Chiratidzo Dzama, was called on February 4 last year by one of the suspects saying he was Commissioner Gwangwadza from Zacc, indicating they had received six anonymous letters of corruption allegations levelled against her.

They allegedly claimed that nine investigation officers were handling the cases, but indicated that their senior officers knew her and were willing to destroy the dockets on condition she paid them US$900 or transferred $90 000 via EcoCash.

Former Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri was also approached by the suspects, saying they were investigating his murder case and that his docket was complete and would be referred to NPA for prosecution.

They allegedly demanded US$2 000 for them to close the docket at station level and to save him from prosecution.

Eng Mudzuri consulted his lawyer, who advised him to approach Zacc offices and get clarity on the allegations.

That is when he was told that there was no Commissioner Hungwe at Zacc.

Dr Simba Makoni received a phone call from one suspect saying Zacc was investigating him on allegations of flouting the Exchange Control Regulations, and that his docket was complete, awaiting referral to the NPA for prosecution.

They demanded $1 million from him to close the docket at station level with the cash deposited into a CBZ Bank account registered in the name of Talent Murape. Investigations by police revealed that there was no Talent Murape registered with the Registrar General’s Office.

CEO of Africawide Zimbabwe (Private) Mr Douglas Chiimba, was allegedly extorted of US$1 000 while one Dr Guzha, a medical practitioner, was extorted of US$1 000 on accusations of raping a patient at his private surgery in Harare.

Mr Raphael Mushanawani, the Netone CEO, was called and the suspects wanted 10 percent of the value of assets recovered from a NetOne cashier who was allegedly stealing from the company.

It is said they told Mr Mushanawani that he was involved and they threatened to take the matter to social media if the deal did not sail through.

On May 21, Netone entered into a whistle-blower agreement with one of the four suspects for him to get a 10 percent reward from the recovered assets.