A Harare freight company and its director have appeared in court on allegations of defrauding a client of ZiG81,000 after allegedly claiming to clear an imported truck through customs before smuggling it into Zimbabwe without paying duty.
Frontview Freight Customs Clearance (Private) Limited, represented by director Lawrence Zifungo, 44, and Zifungo himself appeared before the Harare Magistrates' Court facing fraud charges.
The complainant is White Rock Trading (Private) Limited, represented by Tinashe Chahwanda.
Prosecutors allege that White Rock imported a white Freightliner Argosy truck from South Africa and engaged Frontview Freight Customs Clearance in March 2025 to process customs clearance through the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) after the vehicle arrived at Beitbridge Border Post.
The court heard that on June 2, 2025, Zifungo, acting with Faith Chinyanga and Mike Dhlamini, who are both still at large, quoted ZiG81,000 for customs duty and clearance fees.
The complainant allegedly paid the amount in two instalments of ZiG62,000 and ZiG19,000. The money was deposited into a CBZ Bank account belonging to Shaminic Logistics (Private) Limited, a company linked to Chinyanga.
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According to the State, the funds were later transferred into Frontview Freight Customs Clearance's account on Zifungo's instructions.
Instead of paying the required customs duty, the accused allegedly smuggled the truck into Zimbabwe and issued the complainant with a fraudulent clearance certificate purporting that the vehicle had been lawfully cleared.
The alleged fraud came to light on December 12, 2025, when White Rock's accountant, Piyason Chibanda, was contacted by ZIMRA and informed that the truck had not been properly imported.
A follow-up with the tax authority allegedly revealed outstanding customs duty of ZiG63,031.10.
The complainant reported the matter to the police after the accused allegedly failed to account for the money.
The State alleges White Rock suffered a prejudice of ZiG81,000, with nothing recovered.
Zifungo and Frontview Freight Customs Clearance were remanded to August 25 for routine remand proceedings.
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