THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) suspended at least 36 officers implicated in lifestyle audits, while processes are underway at the High Court to forfeit the ill-gotten wealth.
Zimra Commissioner-General Faith Mazani said the taxman was working with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) who are handling cases where internal investigations would have pointed to corruption.
Comm-Gen Mazani said Zimra was not only targeting its staff, but the investigations also cover taxpayers with questionable income.
“Between January and June this year, a total of 36 officers were suspended pending investigation following lifestyle audits.
“Where criminality is detected, we hand over the cases to the police or other investigating arms,” she said.
“Already, processes are underway to recover ill-gotten wealth,” she said.
Comm-Gen Mazani said lifestyle audits carried out in terms of the Zimra code of conduct revealed unjustified wealth.
“We have a code of conduct which is applicable to our staff. One of the things that we did was to carry out lifestyle audits.
“Where we feel they have assets beyond the income that we are aware of, we then ask them to explain the source of the income.
“That is when we found out quite a number of cases where our officers are building houses, going on holidays and buying cars beyond their expected lifestyles,” he said.
Comm-Gen Mazani said the asset forfeiture which was being done in terms of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act would not spare corrupt tax-payers.
“We are doing the same thing with taxpayers. When we approach taxpayers, we look at their assets and we ask them to explain how they acquired them and the sources of their income.
“We discovered that people were getting lots of income without declaring it,” she said.
Meanwhile Zimra, through the National Prosecuting Authority’s Assets Forfeiture Unit, has since applied to forfeit mansions purchased by its former accounting officer Tapuwa Evans Chidemo.
Chidemo reportedly siphoned US$1 239 083 from the taxman’s bank account and splashed it on property.
He risks losing two mansions in Glen Lorne, Harare, a flat in Harare city centre and a top-of-the-range vehicle.State media
