By Judith Nyuke
Varichem Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Ltd has lost US$125,000 after allegedly falling victim to a fraudulent change of banking details, with a director of Malaba Solutions (Pvt) Ltd now facing charges over the scam.
Benele Ncube, 35, appeared before Harare Regional Magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa facing fraud charges. He was not asked to plead and was remanded to October 9.
The State, represented by Lawrence Gangarahwe, alleges that the incident occurred in August 2026 when Varichem Pharmaceuticals was preparing to make a payment for services rendered by the Kenya-based Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB).
The company, represented in court by its chief finance officer, Patricia Wadzanai Kamangirira, allegedly received an email from TDB representative Sabelo Nkambule on August 14 containing an invoice for US$125,000.
The invoice instructed Varichem to deposit the money into a TDB account held with Standard Chartered Bank.
However, about 20 minutes later, the company allegedly received another email containing revised banking details, directing the payment to a TDB account with NBS Bank in Zimbabwe.
According to the State, Varichem approved the payment on August 26 and transferred the US$125,000 into an NBS Bank account allegedly controlled by Ncube.
Ncube is accused of subsequently using the money to purchase various goods locally instead of remitting it to TDB.
The alleged fraud was discovered the following day after Varichem contacted TDB to follow up on the payment and established that the banking details used for the transaction were fraudulent.
The company then reported the matter to the police.
The State alleges that Ncube’s actions resulted in a total loss of US$125,000, although US$50,000 has since been recovered.
The case was remanded to October 9.
