NSSA director corporate affairs David Makwara, yesterday appeared in Court on allegations of defrauding the authority of US$182 661,77 by using a contractor to siphon the cash out of NSSA without doing any of the paid-for home renovations.

David Makwara was facing fraud charges when he appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje and was remanded out of custody to September 15 on free bail.

The court heard that in August last year Makwara misrepresented that Zivo Project Management (Pvt) Ltd was to carry out renovation works worth the US$182 661,77 at his home at 5 Ruwanga Road in Mandara.

He had approached Nigel Mahachi, the project manager at Zivo Project Management to give him a quotation for the proposed renovation work and Mahachi in turn submitted a bill of quantity to Makwara plus the invoice for US$182 661.77.

Further investigations established that soon afterwards, Makwara submitted the invoice to NSSA for payment and NSSA then transferred the full US$182 661,77 to Zivo Project Management’s BancABC account.

But then Makwara corruptly directed Nigel Mahachi to refund him the money in cash less bank charges and any other associated costs.

This was against NSSA policy and practice which does not allow a person to be paid the money for home mprovement directly, unless prior approval have been granted, which was not the position with Makwara.

To raise the actual US dollar banknotes in cash, Zivo Project Management transferred US$171 600 to an Ecobank Account and then Makwara was given hard cash totalling US$165 000.

Early in June this year, Makwara phoned Mahachi inviting him to his house to see some renovations work done and sent him some hand written notes with fifteen items to be included on the bill of quantity in case Zivo Project Management might be approached by the authorities.

The accused persons acted unlawfully by misrepresenting to NSSA and fraudulently submitted an invoice of US$182 661.77 purporting that Zivo Project Management (Pvt) Ltd wanted to carry out some renovations works at Stand 1144 Mandara Township yet in actual fact he wanted to use Zivo Project Management as a vehicle to siphon money from NSSA.-Herald