A former Harare city controller stole over one million Zimbabwe dollars from council accounts. Tafadzwa Dzapasi worked as debtors controller between November 2022 and May 2023. Courts sentenced him to three years in prison after proving the fraud charges. The man used his job position to move money from unused accounts into personal pockets. He tricked officials into thinking customers paid their bills when no real payments happened.
Dzapasi targeted dormant council accounts that held credit balances from previous transactions. He transferred these funds to accounts with outstanding debts to hide his theft scheme. The controller made transactions look legitimate when he actually stole city money. One major theft occurred on December 20 when he took cash from temporary client payments. Internal auditors discovered his suspicious banking activities during routine financial checks.
The biggest losses happened during February and March 2023 when millions disappeared from council funds. Harare lost over seven million dollars in February and twelve million more in March. Dzapasi manipulated banking records to cover his fraudulent money transfers between different accounts. The court heard evidence about how he deceived council workers about fake debt settlements. His criminal actions cost the city nearly twenty million Zimbabwe dollars in total losses.
Dzapasi targeted dormant council accounts that held credit balances from previous transactions. He transferred these funds to accounts with outstanding debts to hide his theft scheme. The controller made transactions look legitimate when he actually stole city money. One major theft occurred on December 20 when he took cash from temporary client payments. Internal auditors discovered his suspicious banking activities during routine financial checks.
The biggest losses happened during February and March 2023 when millions disappeared from council funds. Harare lost over seven million dollars in February and twelve million more in March. Dzapasi manipulated banking records to cover his fraudulent money transfers between different accounts. The court heard evidence about how he deceived council workers about fake debt settlements. His criminal actions cost the city nearly twenty million Zimbabwe dollars in total losses.
