The Musina Regional Court has sentenced Nthapeleng Adler Munyai, a 47-year-old former manager of Pamdozi Cargo International CC clearing agent and Tsumbedzo Priscilla Nemangani Mashito, a 47-year-old former SARS customs external verification officer at Beitbridge border post.
The two were each sentenced to an effective 15 years direct imprisonment term on counts of fraud, forgery, and two counts of corruption.
Limpopo spokesperson for the National Prosecution Authority (NPA), Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said trouble mounted for the duo following an incident which happened on March 14, 2016.
“The two accused were arrested for permitting an interlink truck with two trailers, loaded with 614 boxes of semi-manufactured tobacco to the value of over R6 million to enter the country from Zimbabwe, and using forged/fabricated/fraudulent consignment clearance documents and thereby processed through the Beitbridge border control’s customs control area without compliance with the normal customs clearance process and procedures,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.
She said the truck was later stopped at the Musina weigh bridge by an officer of the Road Traffic Management Cooperation (RTMC) who, upon noticing that the truck and trailers’ registration number plates did not correspond with the licence disks, on reasonable grounds suspected that there could be something wrong with the load/consignment on the truck.
“He (RTMC officer) then contacted his senior who was off duty and requested his intervention which resulted in the truck being sent back to the Beitbridge border control’s customs ramp, under police and traffic officials’ escort for inspection,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.
Munyai then offered the RTMC officer gratification of R50,000 while the two were still at the weigh bridge.
“With total disregard for the consequences of his actions, (Munyai) continued to offer gratification of R200,000 to another witness, a customs official, for him not to carry out any inspection of the truck when it was at the Beitbridge border control customs ramp,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.
“It was revealed that Mashito had just reported for work from leave, and had swapped the original duty shift posting. She was also found to have been instrumental in the processing of the truck and its consignment outside the normal and ordinary customs clearance process and procedures and had misrepresented to her employer (SARS) how the transaction relating to the said truck was dealt with.”
The prosecutor, advocate Malope Maponya, of the specialized tax unit, led the evidence of the RTMC officer, the junior and the senior SARS customs officials/managers who are Mashito’s former colleagues, clearing agent officials and Munyai’s colleagues in proving the State's case against the two accused.
Maponya also presented the victim impact statement evidence in the aggravation of the sentence.
“The presiding officer was persuaded thereby and concluded that the aggravating circumstances far outweighed the mitigating factors and further that the accused persons failed to present substantial and compelling circumstances warranting the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.
“The court sentenced both accused to an effective 15 years of direct imprisonment. The truck with its two trailers and 614 boxes of tobacco were forfeited to the State.”
Meanwhile, the director of public prosecutions, Advocate Ivy Thenga, has welcomed the sentences.
Thenga said she hopes the sentence will serve as a deterrent to would-be perpetrators of similar offences.
She also applauded the cooperation depicted by different agencies including the RTMC, the SARS customs and internal investigations units, the Hawks’ serious commercial crimes investigations, and the NPA.
Thenga extended gratitude to the government officials “who remained honest and refused to allow themselves to be tempted by the huge amounts of gratification offered to them by the perpetrators”.
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