President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party has been exposed for duping its own members who are farmers more than $20,000 in a sophisticated countrywide scam using the powerful LASCH Enterprises Private company.
Zanu PF Youth League using the LASCH Enterprises Private Limited joint venture officials were today arrested for duping hundreds of farmers of more than US$20 000 through a dubious farm-inputs scheme.
As some residents, police, NASCH Investment officials and senior ZANU PF officials were on Friday seen by ZimEye locked in a marathon meeting at Mutoko Rural District Council Offices, the following suspects Friday appeared in court facing the serious fraud charges: Tapiwa Zengeya (48), Evans Simbarashe Zininga (34), Patience Chipere (38), Christopher Tegwe (46), Fungai Mudondo (38), Shiella Taderera (40), Stephene Mapfumo (43) and Charles Mashumba (46) who all appeared before Mr Milton Serima charged with several counts of fraud and money laundering.
Mr Serima granted them US$500 bail each with the state’s consent.
The accused were all ordered to surrender their passports and to report thrice a week to CID Serious Fraud.
Prosecutor, Miss Sharon Mashavira alleged that sometime in July, LASCH officials and their accomplices who are still at large, Nelson Mahupete and Christina Madakudya, formed a joint venture with Zanu PF Youth League purportedly for the supply of agricultural inputs in the form of fertiliser, seed and farming chemicals to A1 commercial farmers on credit.
The complainants were made to fill in loan application forms bearing LASCH Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd and Zanu PF Youth League logos.
The gang, allegedly recruited district co-coordinators who mobilised complainants to pay US$36 as joining fee, US$30 per hectare as insurance fees and US$5 as an AREX fee, which was payable direct to AREX offices.
It is alleged that the insurance fee varied in line with the number of hectares required by the farmer and the loan was to be recovered from the complainant’s respective Grain Marketing Board (GMB) account after harvest.
As a result, between July 17 and December 11, the court heard that the complainants made several deposits into the company’s bank account.
They presented the bank deposit slips to their designated co-odinaters who issued them with LASCH and ZanuPF Youth League receipts.
The court further heard that LASCH’s bank account received a total of over US$1 million from the farmers but as at December 16 the account had a credit balance of US$500.
It is the state’s case that the gang withdrew the funds and bought themselves motor vehicles in November.
The state alleged, the complainants approached the accused persons to facilitate the delivery of their inputs but nothing materialised prompting them to make a police report.
According to the state, the complainants for now were prejudiced of US$27 497 and nothing was recovered.
 
Meanwhile Mudzi Rural District Friday stormed into their council offices to formally voice their anger. What infuriated the residents was that while the rains are now falling at a time they should have been a step ahead in their farming activities, their hopes have been dampened as they now spending more time trying to recover their “lost” hard earned cash.
The residents paid: $2 to AREX, $36 as administration fee, and $30 for a 25kg of maize seed, 850kgs basal fertiliser and 650kgs top dressing fertiliser.