A former clerk at Access Forex (Pvt) Ltd has appeared before the Harare Magistrates’ Court after allegedly defrauding the company of US$322,510 and R650,000.
Grace Makozho, 31, appeared before magistrate Donald Ndirowei facing charges of fraud and money laundering. She was remanded in custody pending a bail application.
The complainant is Access Forex, a cash remittances company represented in court by its auditor, Patson Makina.
According to the State, Makozho was employed as a clerk from July 2022 to March 2024. Her responsibilities included handling client calls and providing assistance on behalf of the company.
Prosecutors allege that in April 2023, while stationed in South Africa, Makozho devised a scheme to defraud the company by creating ghost remittance accounts within the Access Forex system.
She allegedly used login credentials belonging to a colleague, Liniet Maphosa — who was responsible for processing client funds — to access the transfer system.
Makozho is accused of using the fake accounts to send various sums from Access Forex South Africa to 91 recipients in Zimbabwe. Among the recipients were her alleged accomplices, Dickson Gweshe and Sheperd Gweshe, who are still at large.
She would then instruct the recipients to collect the funds from Access Forex tellers in Zimbabwe and hand over the cash to her. Authorities say Makozho would drive from South Africa to Zimbabwe to personally collect the withdrawn money. No corresponding deposits had been made into Access Forex accounts during the transfers.
Investigators say she also funneled some of the funds into her FNB account in South Africa.
The court also heard that accused person in order to conceal the elicit origin of the money, she went on to use the money to acquire various properties. She further transferred some of the money she would have received from her recipients to South African FNB account numbers as to conceal the destination of the ill-gotten funds in contravening Money Laundering and proceeds of crime act.
Complainant discovered the offence after carrying an audit that is when they discovered that the accounts which were used to send the money from South Africa were fake and does not exist within the system.
On 05 April 2025, detectives received information that accused person was at his home in Village Kada Chief Nyajena Chiredzi. Detectives reacted to the information and drove to Chiredzi in Village Kada Chief Nyajena leading tobher arrest.
Total value defrauded is US$322 510-00, R650 000 and nothing has been recovered.
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