Harare, Zimbabwe – A former Zimbabwe Revenue Authority official ‘Tambudzai Yvonne Musoni’, currently a fugitive, is unable to sell or transfer her family home at the exclusive Mabvazuva Estate near Harare.
Additionally, US$47,500 in school fees deposited into bank accounts of two private schools has been frozen pending a State application for a civil forfeiture order against all her assets.
Tambudzai Yvonne Musoni allegedly amassed wealth by facilitating the acquisition of civil servants’ rebate letters for individuals not eligible under the civil servants’ motor vehicle scheme.
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In 2019, the government introduced a motor vehicle rebate scheme allowing civil servants with over 10 years of service to import vehicles without paying import duty. Musoni allegedly conspired with non-civil servants to generate fake rebate letters, enabling them to import vehicles duty-free.
Several accomplices have been arrested and prosecuted, but Musoni remains a fugitive. The Prosecutor-General, through Asset Management Unit director Chris Mutangadura, secured a High Court order last week to freeze Musoni’s assets, including US$28,625 held by Watershed College and US$18,940 held by Lusitania Primary School for her children’s school fees.
Justice Benjamin Chikowero issued the freezing order, prohibiting the couple from disposing of the house or retrieving the school fees. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission is tasked with serving the order within 21 days.
A freezing order is an interim measure to prevent asset dissipation before a judgment is obtained. It requires evidence of an underlying cause, such as fraud, and a real risk of asset dissipation.
Musoni, who resigned in April last year, is accused of confirming fake rebate letters used at several border posts by purported civil servants. Investigations revealed she did not declare any immovable property, but she and her husband acquired a property in Mabvazuva Township in 2018, now valued at US$150,000.
Further investigations showed large cash deposits into school accounts, raising suspicions of money laundering. Zimra sought a restraining order to prevent the disposal of these assets.
Even if Musoni avoids criminal proceedings by remaining abroad, civil action can still be pursued to seize the assets on the balance of probabilities that they were acquired dishonestly.
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