By Paul Nyathi|The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) whose officials itself have been found involved in corrupt activities has urged members of the public to be wary of a group of criminals who are masquerading as their officers and extorting money from individuals in and around Harare.

The bogus officers, ZACC said were lying to their victims that they have incriminating evidence against them to get them to pay up.

ZACC said it was in the process of identifying some of the culprits. In a statement yesterday, ZACC deputy chairperson Dr Nannette Silukhuni urged members of the public to be wary of these bogus officers.

“What has come to our attention are disturbing reports of people who are masquerading as ZACC officials, purporting to have incriminating evidence against the unsuspecting individuals.

“These fake officers then instruct the client to send money through unscrupulous means in order to erase the files from our books,” she said.

She said it was important for members of the public to know that ZACC investigators carry official identification documents and that they use the official landline (369602/ 8 or 307065/ 7) for communication purposes.

Dr Silukhuni claimed that their investigators do not solicit for bribes.

THE Commission recently suspended four managers for allegedly engaging in corrupt activities at an agency set up to combat graft.

ZACC suspended Sukai Tongogara; General Manager Investigations, Christopher Chisango; General Manager Finance, Administration and Human Resources, Edwin Mubataripi; General Manager, Prevention and Advocacy and Gibson Mangwiro; Chief Accountant/Manager Finance.

The quartet was being linked to corrupt activities involving former ZACC chief executive Ngonidzashe Gumbo who was jailed for two years last year for defrauding the commission of $435 000 in a corrupt deal.