By Judith Nyuke
Two Harare men appeared in court for allegedly hacking Artemis Herbal Centre (Pvt) Limited’s WhatsApp groups to seize administrative control and falsely advertise services such as forex trading, commodity broking, and property evaluations all of which fall outside the company’s actual line of business.
Kudakwashe Kazingizi (26) and Shingirai Mututwa (40) appeared before Harare Magistrate Ruth Moyo charged with unauthorised access to a computer network.
The pair was granted US$100 bail each.
The State, represented by Lawrence Gangarahwe alleges that on 23 January 2026, the accused hacked five WhatsApp Business groups belonging to Artemis Herbal Centre (Pvt) Ltd and seized administrative control.
They reportedly began advertising services such as forex trading, commodity broking and property evaluations—activities entirely outside the company’s actual line of business.
After discovering the unauthorized messages, the company found they originated from their own WhatsApp Business account linked to the Econet number 0779 474 707.
Although the company administrator attempted to delete the messages and remove the rogue number from the groups, they were unable to do so as the accused had already usurped control.
A report was filed at ZRP Harare Central on 25 January 2026 and the case was transferred to CID CCD Harare the following day.
On 27 January, detectives lured Kazingizi—who was still using the compromised Econet number—and apprehended him in the Harare Central Business District.
After his arrest, Kazingizi implicated Mututwa alleging that he had provided him with a duplicate SIM card of the company’s line, which was used to facilitate the hack.
