Noel Makumbirofa (27), one of the people accused of prejudicing Mukuru’s clients of US$111 992 appeared before Harare magistrate, Mrs Apollonia Marutya charged with fraud and money laundering.
Makumbirofa was granted US$200 bail and will return to court on August 20.
Two employees of Finworld Finance Pvt Ltd, Bessie Mbiro (35), an accountant, and Tinomutenda Ranganwa (31), a teller, are on remand on the same charges.
Finworld is a subsidiary of Mukuru.
The complainant in this case is Send Money Home, trading as Mukuru, being represented by Mr Dannis Tendai Muchimbiri.
Prosecutor Mr Thomas Chanakira said sometime in October last year, the accused persons connived with other accused persons who are still at large to defraud unsuspecting complainants.
They registered several accounts with Send Money Home, trading with lost or stolen identification cards and driver’s licenses.
The gang advertised on several platforms, calling for online investments. They also defrauded people by claiming that they had parcels sent from abroad. The unsuspecting victims were required to pay ‘agent fees’ through Mukuru’s platform for them to get the said parcels.
The court heard that on June 7, 2024, Mukuru’s compliance officer picked up a suspicious transaction at Ranganwa’s workstation and a security team went to check, leading to the recovery of four identity cards of unidentified people.
A check was made and it was discovered that the identification cards had been used in the withdrawal of various amounts at the same counter and by the same teller since December 2023.
A review of closed-circuit television footage showed Ranganwa processing the transactions without a client being served.
He was also captured retrieving cash from the till and stashing it in his pocket.
It was also noted that more than 20 identity cards were being used to withdraw various amounts.
Upon arrest of Ranganwa and Mbiro, they implicated Makumbirofa as their accomplice.
