Police in Zimbabwe are still searching for a man accused of attempting to defraud a private security company of US$229 000 through an internet banking scam.
Manase Manjovha skipped bail before the conclusion of his trial and is now the subject of an arrest warrant.
His alleged accomplice, 40-year-old Gladston Mthulisi Tshabalala was sentenced to 30 months in prison by Harare magistrate Tilda Mazhande in March.
Eighteen months of the sentence were suspended on condition of good behaviour, leaving him with an effective 12-month jail term.
The third accused, Dalumuzi Moyo died before the trial was concluded.
Tshabalala was convicted after investigators recovered evidence from the suspects’ mobile phones showing that the trio had planned to target the security company’s bank account in September 2024.
A key prosecution witness, Econet agent Taurai Mushamba, also gave evidence linking the accused to the attempted fraud.
The company’s manager, Cephas Ngorima, was the complainant.
According to the prosecution, Manjovha approached Mr Mushamba on 12 September 2024 at his Econet booth at the corner of First Street and George Silundika Avenue in Harare.
He allegedly asked for a replacement SIM card for a mobile number registered in the name of the security company’s director.
The number was linked to the company’s Nedbank nostro account.
Mushamba requested that the registered owner of the number be present and provide the address used when the line was originally registered.
Manjovha later returned with Tshabalala and Moyo.
They allegedly claimed that one of them was the registered owner of the line.
However, Mushamba became suspicious after noticing that none of the three men resembled the person shown on the national identity document they produced.
The address they provided also did not match the original registration details.
When Mushamba went to a nearby police base to report his suspicions, the three men allegedly fled in a Toyota Aqua.
He was later approached by Jefferes Chipwanyira who offered him US$50 to replace the SIM card.
Mushamba alerted police, leading to Chipwanyira’s arrest.
During questioning, Chipwanyira allegedly told investigators that Manjovha had recruited him to carry out the SIM card replacement.
He then agreed to assist the police investigation.
The following day, officers from Harare Central Police Station and the Harare Homicide section used Chipwanyira to lure the suspects from their base in Bulawayo.
Police instructed Chipwanyira to contact Manjovha, Tshabalala and Moyo and tell them that he had obtained a replacement SIM card.
He also told them to travel to Harare to collect the SIM card and an alleged one-time password (OTP), which prosecutors said was intended to facilitate the transfer of the US$229 000 from the company’s bank account.
The trio travelled towards Harare but were intercepted in Norton.
They allegedly attempted to flee, abandoning their Toyota Aqua.
Police arrested them and recovered the vehicle and four mobile phones which were sent to the Cyber Laboratory for forensic examination.
Investigators found information on the phones that linked the suspects to the attempted fraud according to the State’s case.
Prosecutors said the evidence demonstrated that the three men had deliberately planned to gain unauthorised access to the security company’s bank account and steal the US$229 000.
Manjovha remains at large as police continue efforts to arrest him.
