Malawi: Likhunya-Phiri an IT Hand On Cashgate Granted Bail - Plea On Feb 24

By Wanga Gwede | Nyasa Times

A new suspect in the K2.4 billion money laundering case in which former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo is among the accused, IT expert Steve Likhunya-Phiri has been released on bail by High Court in Lilongwe.

Phiri was arrested December 2 2015, is accused number seven among 19 suspects after Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mary Kachale added him to the case.

Kachale said the 19 people - expected to take plea when the case resumes on February 24 2016 - could not have managed to breach the government financial system and siphon the K2.4 billion over a period of six months without the help of an expert in information technology.

Presiding judge Esme Chombo granted bail to Likhunya-Phiri on condition that he pays a K1.5 million bond, four sureties of K500 000 each and one house, either his or belonging to a relation.

State prosecutor Linesi Chikankheni asked the court that Likhunya-Phiri should disclose the source of the bail bond, which they wanted to be at K1 million.

Likhunya-Phiri's lawyer, Shadreck Mhango, objected to the condition arguing that it was tantamount to providing the State with self-incriminating information.

In her ruling Judge Chombo quashed the request by the State, saying it was done with ulterior motives to corner the suspect.

"This would be evidence of bad faith on the part of the State," said Chombo.

Likhunya Phiri is facing similar charges of theft, money laundering and two others similar to Mphwiyo, including civil servants such as former Accountant General David Kandoje, Auzius Kazombo Mwale, Clemence Mmadzi and Roosevelt Ndovi.

The list of suspects also includes contractors.

Others are George Banda, Limumba Karim, Michael Mphatso, Samuel Mzanda and Maxwell Namata who are facing charges of fraud, negligence by public office, money laundering, theft by public servant, theft by servant and conspiracy to defraud government funds amounting to K2 446 817 450.49.

According to DPP Kachale, Likhunya-Phiri was the " background person" who assisted in breaching and manipulation of the financial systems.

Mozambique: Alleged Money Launderers Remanded in Custody

Maputo -- A judge in the South African town of Barberton on Monday remanded in custody the two Mozambicans arrested at the Lebombo border post on Christmas Day as they attempted to smuggle the equivalent of 7.3 million US dollars in banknotes from Mozambique into South Africa.

The two men, named as Hassan Momade and Abdul Ahmed, made a brief court appearance on Monday afternoon, but the judge declared that more time was needed for investigations. The two will be held at Komatipoort police station, until they return to the Barberton court next Monday.

The judge must then decide whether to keep them in jail until the trial, on charges of money laundering, is held, or to release them on bail.

The men's defence lawyer, Peter Naude, told a team from the independent television station STV, which attended the hearing, that Hassan Momade has taken full responsibility for smuggling the money over the border.

He claimed that the second accused, Abdul Ahmed, was merely a passenger in the pick-up truck, and was quite unaware that the vehicle was carrying millions of dollars in a hidden compartment.

Momade had earlier told reporters that the money resulted from the sale of cell phones in Mozambique. The story makes no sense, since Mozambicans use the national currency, the metical, to buy their cell phones. Momade would need to explain how he had managed to convert the meticais into millions of dollars and euros and why, if the money was obtained legitimately, he had not deposited it in a bank.

It is not yet known where Momade and Ahmed were taking the money. In previous cases where large amounts of money transiting South Africa have been seized, the traffickers have declared their final destination as Dubai.

Two Mozambicans suspected of money laundering were arrested by the South African authorities on Christmas eve after being caught carrying millions of dollars in banknotes hidden in the back of a pick-up truck, APA learns here Monday.

According to local media reports, the South African police seized 4.9 million US dollars, 2.2 million euros and 20,000 South African rands, which amounts to US$7.3 million.

The money was allegedly hidden in a compartment carefully built in the back of the truck but it would have escaped detection had it not been for an anonymous tip-off to the South African police.

Once the police had found the money it took them about five hours to count it.

Private television Station STV quotes a spokesperson for the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Sandile Memela, as saying that the seizure took place on Christmas day.

"The authorities searched the vehicle and found false compartments and when the driver was questioned, he said they were empty, but the police opened the compartments and found plastic bags full of money”, she said

The police, who did not reveal the identities of the two men, said this was the largest such seizure in South African history and they promised to work with the Mozambican police to determine whether the two suspects are part of a larger crime syndicate.

The men, who said they were driving from Maputo to Johannesburg, are being charged with money-laundering, and they will appear in court in Komatipoort next week.

This is not the first time large amounts of foreign currency have been smuggled out of Mozambique. In December 2010, Mozambican businessman Momed Khalid Ayoob was detained in Swaziland in possession of 18 million South Africa rands in banknotes, equivalent to US$2.6 million at the exchange rate of the time.

He admitted that he was taking the money to Dubai. However, the Swazi authorities confiscated the money and started criminal proceedings against Ayoob. That case never reached its conclusion because in April 2012, Ayoob was gunned down by an unidentified assailant outside a mosque in central Maputo.

South Africa: Exclusive - North Korean Diplomat Expelled From SA for Rhino Horn Trafficking

By Julian Rademeyer, News24 Correspondent (The Author of Killing For Profit)
A high-ranking North Korean diplomat accused of abusing his diplomatic immunity and his embassy's diplomatic bag to smuggle rhino horn out of South Africa has been expelled from the country.
News24 has learnt that Park Chol-jun - also identified in some news reports as Pak Chol Chun - quietly left the country on December 11.
A spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco), Nelson Kgwete, did not name Park, but confirmed on Tuesday that the department had been "informed by the embassy" that "the official has returned" to North Korea.
News24 understands that the South African government last month gave Park - the embassy's political councillor - a 30-day ultimatum to leave the country.
The North Korean embassy did not respond to emailed questions.
News24 first submitted questions about the expulsion to Dirco on 8 December - three days before Park left the country - but the department failed to respond for two weeks.
Park was arrested on May 3 in the Mozambican capital Maputo after 4.5kg of rhino horn and $99 300 in cash were found in a vehicle in which he was travelling. The car had diplomatic licence plates and was registered to the North Korean embassy in Pretoria.
Also allegedly arrested was a man identified as a respected North Korean Taekwon-Do master, Kim Jong Su.
'He said it definitely didn't happen'
A Maputo police spokesperson, Orlando Mudumane, said the men were subsequently released on $30 000 bail. According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, Park and Kim returned to South Africa by land shortly afterwards.
Kim, 54, has been actively involved in the Taekwon-Do Federation of Africa (TFA) - which is based in Pretoria - for several years.
According to the federation's website, he has conducted several seminars in South Africa and Mozambique since 2004. At the time of the arrests, he was employed by the TFA as an instructor and director of its technical and umpire committee.
Contacted on Wednesday, the Federation's president, Pretoria High Court Judge Annali Basson, referred queries to the North Korean embassy.
Her son Andre, the TFA's legal advisor, later told News24 that the Federation had confronted Kim with the allegations earlier this year.
"He said it definitely didn't happen. That he was not arrested. We have to take his word for it, unless we get evidence that he was involved."
Basson, who said he was "utterly shocked" by the allegations, said the Federation would have to "dissociate" itself from Kim "if it's true".
He said Kim had flown to North Korea in "late October or early November" to "visit family" and had planned to return to South Africa next year.
Quoting a "South Korean embassy source", news agency UPI reported at the time of the arrests that "North Koreans regularly access the land route to Mozambique, in order to acquire horns of protected wildlife".
"The revenue is needed, the source said, to keep the North Korean mission in operation, and the horns are sent to China where they are sold as medicine in the black market."
Embassies used to operate 'criminal empire'
According to NK News.org, a website that monitors events in North Korea, Pyongyang "poured military and financial resources into Africa [from the mid-1960 to the late 1990s], hoping to sway newly independent countries to recognise the leadership in Pyongyang as the official representative of the Korean people".
It also established dozens of embassies, which quickly became a financial burden. When funds dried up, Pyongyang issued an edict that embassies become financially self-reliant.
There are mounting allegations that North Korea uses its embassies to operate a "criminal empire".
Earlier this year, a North Korean diplomat was caught smuggling 25kg of gold - worth an estimated $1m - from Singapore to Bangladesh. Other North Korean diplomats and embassies have been linked to drug, weapons and cigarette smuggling, money laundering and the distribution of fake US dollars.
The exposure of a senior North Korean diplomat's involvement in rhino horn trafficking is the fourth diplomatic scandal of its kind on record in South Africa in the past nine years.
In 2006, police uncovered evidence that Nguyen Khanh Toan, the economic attaché at the Vietnamese embassy, was using his diplomatic immunity and the embassy's diplomatic bag to smuggle rhino horn out of South Africa. He was quietly recalled to Hanoi.
In April 2008, a Port Elizabeth jeweller of Vietnamese origin, Tommy Tuan, was arrested in a police sting in Kimberley while trying to buy ten rhino horns from an undercover police operative.
At the time of his arrest, Tuan was driving a Vietnamese embassy car with diplomatic plates registered to Pham Cong Dung, the political counsellor. In March 2010, Tuan was convicted and fined R200 000. He left South Africa shortly afterwards.
Later that year, Vu Moch Ahn, the embassy's first secretary was secretly filmed receiving rhino horns from a dealer outside the embassy in Brooklyn. She was also quietly recalled after protests from the South African authorities.
Evidence of North Korean involvement in the illegal rhino horn trade is certain to set off alarm bells in the international conservation community.
Both North and South Korea trafficked rhino horn and ivory in the 1980s and 1990s, but the recent crisis has largely been attributed to demand in Vietnam and China, where a kilogram of rhino horn can fetch black market prices of between $65 000 and $100 000.
The exact nature of North Korea's current involvement in the rhino horn trade remains unclear, however this is not the first time that North Korean embassy staff have been implicated.
'Deeply implicated'
In 1989, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) produced a damning report accusing North Korean diplomats based in Zimbabwe's capital Harare of being "deeply implicated in the illegal ivory and rhino horn trade".
As early as 1985, there were reports that ivory and rhino horn smuggling were among the "many illicit activities which North Korean embassies undertake because their embassies have to be self-financing".
 The EIA's 1989 report stated that "[v]irtually the entire staff of the diplomatic missions of North Korea [in Zimbabwe and Zambia] are involved in the illegal rhino horn trade", with "70% to 80% of the rhino horn traded by the North Korean embassy in Harare said to originate from rhinos killed in Zimbabwe".
That attention now appears to have shifted to South Africa, home to 73% of the world's last remaining rhinos.
Poachers have killed more than a thousand rhinos in South Africa so far this year. Since 2008, at least 4 600 rhinos have fallen to poachers' bullets, seventeen times the number poached in the preceding 27 years.
A recent study has warned that if poaching rates continue at their current levels, the white rhino population in the Kruger National Park will "plummet" from an estimated 8 900 animals to between "2879 and 3263 individuals... by 2018".
South Africa has diplomatic ties with North Korea, although the exact nature of its relationship with Pyongyang remains opaque.
Last year, South Africa - along with Cuba, China, Belarus, Ecuador, Venezuela, Russia, and Iran - voted against a motion in the United Nations to take diplomatic and legal action against North Korea over continued human rights abuses that include mass murder, rape, forced abortions, torture, and enslavement. The motion came against the backdrop of a 400-page UN report which concluded that the country's appalling human rights track record "exceeds all others in duration, intensity and horror".
Yolan Friedmann, CEO of South Africa's Endangered Wildlife Trust, welcomed news of Park's expulsion, but said "not enough has been done".
"The involvement of diplomats in the rhino horn trade has been alleged for a long time. This has to be made more public. Why is it that kingpins are being hidden in embassies and that they are being protected? They need to be exposed and the embassies need to stop hiding kingpins.
"It is morally, completely wrong. Expulsion is one thing, but we need to see government being proactive and sending a clear message to embassies that they need to stop hiding kingpins."

Source: News24

Chinese get 20-year jail term for smuggling 11 rhino horns

The four convicts were also ordered to pay Sh10.8bn fine. Their case was heard for 23 days

One of the convicted Chinese nationals boards a Prisons truck as three others walk towards it at Mbeya Resident Magistrate's Court shortly after the four were sentenced to a 20-year jail term yesterday. PHOTO | GODFREY KAHANGO

In Summary

Resident magistrate in a Mbeya court says prosecution proved all the offences the accused faced beyond reasonable doubt

Godfrey Kahango The Citizen Correspondent

Mbeya. Four Chinese were yesterday sentenced to 20 years in jail after being convicted of smuggling 11 rhino horns worth Sh902 million.
The Chinese nationals were also ordered to pay Sh10.8 billion in fine in the case that was heard for 23 days consecutively.
Song Leo, 33, Xiao Shaodan, 29, Chen Jianlin, 34 and Hu Liang, 30, were arrested on 17 last month at the Tanzania-Malawi boarder post of Kasumulu in Kyela District hiding the horns in a dubious fuel tank they were driving from Malawi.
They were charged with three offences related to economic sabotage, conspiracy, and smuggling the horns without permission of authorities as well as possession of government trophies illegally.
Mbeya Resident Magistrate in-charge Charles Mteite said yesterday that the prosecution proved each of the three offences beyond reasonable doubt.
He found the accused guilty of conspiracy which earned them 15 years in jail. The court also convicted the trio of possessing government trophies in which they were handed three years in jail each and ordered to pay a Sh1.8 billion fine.
They were sentenced to 20 years in jail on the third offence of possessing government trophies and ordered to pay Sh9 billion fine, being ten times the value of the horns seized.
This means the accused will pay Sh10.8 billion in total.
The court also ordered a Toyota Hilux that the Chinese used to commit the offence and the 11 horns be confiscated and put under the watch of the Director of Wildlife who will follow proper procedures to destroy them. Before the sentence was read, state attorney **yo Simon, who was being assisted by Crchiles Mulisa, asked the court to give a severe punishment to serve as a lesson to foreigners with the habit of coming in the country under the pretext of tourism but engage in economic sabotage.
He said, the accused came into the country allegedly for tourism purposes, but had a plan to engage in rhino horn smuggling.
Lawyers defending the accused Ladislaus Lwekaza asked the court for a lenient sentence because they were first offenders and were foreigners and young to be depended by any nation. The magistrate said his decision considered arguments from both sides. "There is no doubt these precious animals are being killed despite huge amounts of money the government spends to protect wildlife so they do not become distinct,” he said. He went on, "It is also the duty of the court to support efforts by the government to fight against poaching”.
Outside the court, Mr Lwekaza said he needed time to go through the judgment before he could comment on the next cause of action.
"First, we respect the decision of the court in line with the constitution of our country. The decision did not consider the colour or citizenship of my clients,” he said.
There was extraordinary tight security in and outside the court led by Mbeya Regional Police Commander (RPC) Ahmed Msangi.

FNB Namibia linked to money laundering

FIRST National Bank of Namibia has been implicated in a money laundering investigation involving N$74 million that was channelled in and out of the country.
The Namibian has learnt that the country's biggest commercial bank failed to adhere to strict anti-money laundering regulations when it allowed the N$74 million in question to be channeled through it.
Authorities are investigating an elaborate scheme where a non-existent person used a fake passport to register two businesses (close corporations) and several bank accounts that were then used to move the money.
Transactions took place between February and July last year and involved at least five suspects, four of whom have vanished.
Law enforcement sources said that FNB reported the possible money laundering activities around June last year, only after police began looking into the transactions. By the time the commercial bank reported the case, N$700 000 was all that remained in the two companies' accounts.
The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) flagged the transactions in June last year and then reported the matter to the police to take a closer look.
FNB was pleading ignorance to The Namibian about the investigation, despite the fact that court documents confirm the matter.
The Namibian understands that officials in the bank's treasury and foreign exchange divisions have been questioned by police regarding the said transactions.
FNB, responding through spokesperson Victoria Muranda, said the bank "is a responsible business with strong ethics and a zero tolerance for non-compliance of the laws and regulations of the country.”
Muranda said the bank reports all suspicious transactions as described in the regulations. She added that to protect the parties concerned, authorities do not keep the bank informed of developments in their investigations.
"We are, therefore, neither able nor authorised to respond to your questions,” Muranda said in her emailed reply to specific questions.
FNB remained adamant that it was in compliance with the law.
Should FNB be found not to have complied with the anti-money laundering laws, the Bank of Namibia can impose a maximum administrative fine of N$10 million. But if criminally convicted, the courts may impose a fine of N$100 million or send the bank's management to prison for 30 years, in terms of the Financial Intelligence Act.
Law enforcement sources from the prosecution and police expressed frustration over the FIC's reluctance to act against FNB's non-compliance.
Bank of Namibia spokesperson Ndangi Katoma told The Namibian that the Financial Intelligence Centre was prohibited, by law, to provide information to the media.
Prosecutor general Martha Imalwa states in an affidavit that FNB failed to verify and detect the questionable nature of the accounts and those who opened them.
Law enforcement agencies investigating the case believe that the money was destined to fund terrorism activities linked to Hizbollah and the broader Middle East.
The N$74 million was channelled through accounts belonging to Fort-Nox Distribution CC and Georgetown Investment CC. Fort-Nox Distribution CC had, between February and June last year, channelled over N$43 million into the country and out again. Georgetown Investment CC saw N$28 million come into its accounts from abroad and moved out of the country again, within two days.
Money going into both accounts came from a South African company called Bustque (Pty) Limited. When the money was in Namibia it was then channeled back to South Africa to another outfit by the name Kit Kat Group Pty Ltd.
Fort-Nox and Georgetown used fictitious customs documents to hoodwink the bank in believing that the transactions were authentic.
According to foreign exchange regulations, a bank is obliged to receive customs documents related to payments that a local entity is making for goods purchased outside Namibia.
Imalwa's affidavit stated that despite FNB having requested for the import export documents, it received a "few fictitious documents purported to be from the Ministry of Finance's customs and excise directorate”.
The Namibian has learned that authorities traced part of the money to bank accounts held in Canada, China and the United Arab Emirates, more specifically Dubai.
Fort-Nox Distributors and Georgetown Investment belong to a Simon Hafeni Petrus who registered them on the same day, 11 February 2014. Petrus, who registered the companies and opened the bank accounts, is a non-existent person, authorities said.
When authorities took a closer look at the two bank accounts, three other names popped up. Sohum Subhash Metha, James Shah and Gurraj Ghotra's names appeared more in the two companies' financial transactions than that of the so-called owner Petrus.
Metha, Shah and Ghotra vanished from Windhoek around July last year when it became apparent they were being investigated. Authorities said that the trio disappeared overnight.
During their investigations authorities also discovered that Petrus, Metha, Shah and Ghotra all used fraudulent Namibian passports when dealing with FNB. This also happened when Metha opened his personal account with the bank during the same period.
Authorities believe Simon Hafeni Petrus to be a false identity because the only trace authorities have to him is a fake passport.
Authorities traced the fictitious passports to former ministry of home affairs and immigration employee Joel Archy Kafula. Kafula is the son of controversial former Windhoek mayor and current member of parliament Agnes Kafula. Joel Kafula was based at the ministry's Swakopmund office at the time. He allegedly processed the passports by using payment receipts of citizens who legitimately applied for passports at the Swakopmund office.
Joel Kafula resigned from the ministry in July last year, the same month police started probing the transactions. He is still being sought by the police to answer criminal charges. The Namibian was unable to trace Kafula for comment.

Read More from The NAMIBIAN: http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?page=read&id=35119

Illicit financial flows cost Zim $500m

ILLICIT financial flows have this year cost Zimbabwe more than $500 million, which is enough to buy about over half of the season's supply of grain for the country. Zimbabwe requires about 1,8 million tonnes of maize annually at a total cost of about $702 million at the Grain Marketing Board. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Dr John Mangudya said the authorities are dealing with the cancer. For this year alone Zimbabwe has lost more than $500 million which has no authentic, bona fide justification,” said Dr Mangudya. "I am very concerned from where I sit as most companies are now abusing the systems in Zimbabwe by utilising funds from company accounts into individual accounts so they can take money out of the country. This is happening and we shall deal with that problem. It's not desirable,” he said. He said some companies are taking advantage of the opening up of the exchange controls to drain money out of the country. "That shows lack of confidence. How can you be confident that you love to live in Zimbabwe without your money? "So you send your money to Mauritius, China or Pakistan or other parts of the world but your business is in Zimbabwe,” he said.
It's a paradox. So if you are not happy with Zimbabwe its better you go and live where your money is. It's a grave concern. I looked at the statistics and found out that it's a cancer that we are brewing,” said Dr Mangudya. This calls for measures to curb the bleeding of the nation through the illicit financial flows. "We need to improve on foreign exchange management systems. We need compliance. Systems are there but those people who are given the task of implementing our policies must walk the talk,” said Dr Mangudya. One of the measures under the foreign exchange management systems in other countries includes cash limits. The United States of America, for instance, limits daily cash withdrawals to $10 000 per individual. Other measures are expected to include crafting legislation to coerce mining firms to release production data. The measures will help to curb illicit financial flows and money laundering. ccording to a recent study, Africa loses between $50-$60 billion annually through unscrupulous movement of money outside the continent. According to study, the flow of illicit money out of Africa is facilitated by a global shadow financial system comprising tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions, disguised corporations, anonymous trust accounts, fake foundations, trade mispricing, and money laundering techniques.

South Africa: Rhino Poaching - 12 Kingpins Arrested

By Karabo Ngoepe

Twelve people believed to be the kingpins of a rhino poaching syndicate operating in Gauteng and North West have been arrested. This after a joint operation by law enforcement agencies.
The 12 were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday during Operation Ringleader which was conducted in conjunction with Crime Intelligence, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory as well as the National Prosecuting Authority in the two provinces.

Hawks spokesperson, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said law enforcement officers had been on the trail of the group for two years.
"The high flying group has been [the] subject of an investigation since 2013 and is alleged to have contributed to the illegal poaching of rhinos and illicit dealing of rhino horns in Klerksdorp, Rustenburg, Pretoria and Johannesburg," he said in a statement.

During the operation, 13 illegal firearms (eight rifles and five pistols), three small scales, one electrical hacksaw, four rhino horns, chopped rhino horns, R1.1m in cash and eight luxury vehicles were found and confiscated.

The value of the seized items, including the money, was estimated at R6m.
The National Head of the Hawks Lieutenant General Mthandazo Ntlemeza praised the team for securing the arrests. He said no stone would be left unturned as they continued to clamp down on rhino poaching.

"I want to warn poachers that the Hawks will leave no stone unturned in the fight against rhino poaching and we will ensure that poachers are brought to book and convicted. The broom is still sweeping. This operation is continuing until all syndicates are wiped out," he said.

The suspects would face charges of money laundering and racketeering, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition as well as corruption.

Source: News24

The trial of Fidelity Printers and Refiners chief executive Allen Marimbe is likely to pose a problem as he refused to give a statement to the police on the grounds that most of his testimony is wrapped under the veil of the Official Secrets Act.
Marimbe refused to give police his statement when he was arrested on charges of fraud and money laundering involving more than $2,6 million citing the Act.
It emerged in his fresh bail application on Friday that Marimbe would not be able to construct an intelligible defence outline for his case given the nature of his job.
Marimbe was last Tuesday locked up after the magistrates' court indicted him for trial at the High Court. His trial has been set for January 18 next year at the High Court. Following his indictment, Marimbe's bail was terminated.
His lawyers, Kantor and Immerman Legal Practitioners, instructed Advocate Tawanda Zhuwarara to apply for bail in the High Court on Friday, before Justice Happias Zhou.
Adv Zhuwarara argued that Marimbe was a suitable candidate for bail. He said his duties and responsibilities were covered by the Official Secrets Act.
Fidelity Printers and Refiners company secretary has been brought before the courts on allegations of defrauding the country's sole gold buyer of more than $120 000.
Last week, three bosses from the same company were arrested on allegations of swindling the company of close to $800 000 through underhand dealings.
When the three appeared in court, the State said that the trio's arrest could expose more corruption at the company and true to its word, the company's secretary, Terrence Tererayi Machawira (41) has joined the bandwagon.
Machawira appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Francis Mapfumo on Saturday charged with fraud involving $124 737.
He was remanded in custody to today for bail application.
Machawira's workmates, chief operating officer and finance director Godknows Hofisi (41), senior finance manager Tinashe Mumbengegwi (35) and Ronald Madhara (47), an accountant, were last week on Friday granted $2 000 bail each by magistrate Mr Vakayi Chikwekwe coupled with some stringent conditions.
As part of their bail conditions, each one of them was ordered to deposit with the Clerk of Court surety worth $100 000 and to surrender their passports.
However, they will remain in custody for the next seven days after prosecutor Mr Michael Reza invoked Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
The section allows the State to hold suspects for a week while it considers appealing against the magistrate's ruling.
According to the State led by Ms Venencia Mtake, Machawira allegedly used the same fraudulent method used by Hofisi, Mumbengegwi, Madhara to defraud Fidelity Printers and Re- finers.
It is alleged that Machawira, who is a signatory to Fidelity Printers and Refiners bank account held at Stanbic Bank, ordered the bank to transfer $124 737 from Fidelity Printers and Refiners into Swisspack Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd bank account also held at Stanbic.
He misrepresented that Munemo had supplied gold to Fidelity Printers and Refiners yet in actual fact he had not supplied the yellow metal to the company.
It is alleged that Munemo would withdraw the money and share it with the accused persons.
The court heard that an internal auditor unearthed the offence on June 4.

Poachers kill at least 22 more elephants - including BABIES - with cyanide at Africa park where Cecil the lion lived, bringing total number poisoned this month to 62

• At least 22 more elephants have been slayed using cyanide by poachers
• Animals' carcasses were discovered in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
• Poachers made off with three ivory tusks after the killings, officials said
• Deaths bring total number of elephants poisoned in October alone to 62  

By Sophie Jane Evans for MailOnline

Published: 18:36 GMT, 27 October 2015 | Updated: 18:42 GMT, 27 October 2015

At least 22 more elephants - including babies - have been poisoned to death by poachers in Zimbabwe, it was today revealed, as conservationists struggle to stem a spate of deadly attacks.

The animals' carcasses were discovered in Hwange National Park's Sinamatella area alongside 35 tusks, said Caroline Washaya-Moyo, spokeswoman for the parks and wildlife management authority.

The poachers, who apparently killed the elephants with cyanide, escaped with three ivory tusks.

The grim finding - made by park rangers yesterday morning - brings the number of elephants poisoned by poachers in the southern Africa country in October alone to a staggering 62.

Brutally killed: At least 22 more elephants - including babies - have been poisoned to death by poachers in Zimbabwe, it has emerged. Above, a file picture of an elephant killed by cyanide in Hwange National Park

'We recovered 22 elephant carcasses in the Sinamatela area and so far we have also recovered 35 tusks,'

Washaya-Moyo told AFP. 'Initial investigations indicate that there was cyanide poisoning.'

She added: 'We continue to lobby for deterrent penalties for people found with poisonous substances such as cyanide. We can't continue to lose wildlife at such a rate.'

Rangers are now investigating how many of the elephants - who resided at the same park as Cecil the lion, who was shot dead by dentist Walter Palmer in July -  had fully developed tusks.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Washaya-Moyo said: 'We are now trying to check how many elephants had fully developed tusks because babies are among those killed.

Targeted by poachers: The animals' carcasses were discovered in Hwange National Park's Sinamatella area alongside 35 tusks, said spokeswoman Caroline Washaya-Moyo. Above, an elephant is pictured at the park

'The rate at which we are losing animals to cyanide is alarming. 

'Many other species are also dying from the cyanide used by poachers to target elephants. 

'We are appealing to people in communities close to national parks to cooperate with authorities.'

The latest attacks come less than two weeks after 26 elephants died from poisoning in two separate incidents outside the park, in the resort town of Kariba and near Zimbabwe's border with Botswana.

 We are now trying to check how many elephants had fully developed tusks because babies are among those killed.

Caroline Washaya-Moyo, national parks spokeswoman

The three killed in Kariba died from cyanide put in oranges. And last month, at least 14 elephants died of poisoning in various attacks.

In the wake of the poisonings, officials recovered 2.2lbs of poison from the elephants' habitats.

Poaching is common in Zimbabwe's game parks. Elephants and rhino are the main targets for poachers because of their tusks and horns, which are smuggled to eastern Asian countries.

Last year, more than 300 elephants died in suspected cyanide poisonings.

Washaya-Moyo said the parks agency is hoping that trained dogs from South Africa and the deployment of drones will help tighten monitoring of the vast, wildlife-rich park.

Earlier this month, Zimbabwe Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri blamed a ban on elephant sport hunting by the U.S. for increased poaching in the country.

Shot dead: Rangers are now investigating how many of the elephants - who resided at the same park as Cecil the lion (pictured), who was shot dead by dentist Walter Palmer in July - had fully developed tusks

'All this poaching is because of American policies, they are banning sport hunting.

'An elephant would cost $120,000 in sport hunting but a tourist pays only $10 to view the same elephant,' she said, adding money from sport hunting is crucial in conservation efforts. 

Yesterday, the national parks announced that, over the weekend, officials at Harare International Airport seized 380 pounds of ivory, worth $43,250, that was about to be smuggled to Singapore.

Three Zimbabweans and a Malian national were arrested over the smuggling bid, officials said.

Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3292198/Poachers-kill-22-elephants-including-BABIES-cyanide-Africa-national-park-Cecil-lion-lived-bringing-total-number-poisoned-62.html#ixzz3qczFh3tk