HARARE — Two Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officers have been arrested over customs records that showed 2 luxury vehicles had left Zimbabwe, even though investigators later found them at a Harare guest lodge.
Edwin Mhondiwa Chabuda, 43, and Upenyu Chaurura, 51, are accused of criminal abuse of duty as public officers. Both were stationed at Plumtree Border Post. Investigators say they processed the exit of a Lamborghini Urus and a Mercedes-Benz GLE 53 without carrying out the required physical inspections.
The 2 vehicles, both registered in South Africa, are estimated to be worth about R7 million, or roughly US$390,000. The black Lamborghini, registration TL 00 GP, has been valued at about R4.875 million. The black Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE 53, registration NB 76 MM GP, has been valued at between R2 million and R2.8 million.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) said the officers allegedly certified that the vehicles had crossed back into South Africa when both remained in Zimbabwe. Their arrests on November 9 have brought the border clearance records to the centre of an investigation that began with the seizure of the cars and the arrest of Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the youngest son of the late former president Robert Mugabe.
ZACC investigators seized the SUVs at Brompton Guest Lodge in Newlands, Harare, on November 3. The commission had received information that they were at the lodge despite customs records showing that they had already left the country.
The entries traced different journeys. The Lamborghini entered Zimbabwe in June and was recorded as having exited on July 12. The Mercedes-Benz entered on July 12 and was recorded as having returned to South Africa on October 10. Investigators found both vehicles in Harare the following month.
At a news conference on November 4, ZACC spokesperson Simiso Mlevu described the basis for the operation: “ZACC acted on the information that these vehicles are in the country illegally,” she said.
Mlevu said the cars had entered Zimbabwe under temporary import permits issued by ZIMRA. She also said the seizure formed part of a wider operation in which investigators had impounded 42 commuter omnibuses suspected of being imported in breach of the country’s rules on vehicle age.
The two officers are accused of clearing the SUVs at Plumtree without physically inspecting them, contrary to ZIMRA’s standard operating procedures. Investigators say the records falsely certified the vehicles’ departure. The officers are expected to appear at Plumtree Magistrates Court on November 10.
The case developed amid a separate criminal investigation at the lodge. On the evening of November 3, ZACC investigator Panyika Lloyd Mupanduki, 42, was conducting surveillance on the vehicles when he was confronted by Chatunga and 4 other men who were staying at the property, according to the prosecution’s account.
Chatunga, 29, was arrested with Munashe Mubawu, 43, Terrence Johannes Chinyemba, 42, Fredson Peter, 33, and Solomon Pamire, 34. Prosecutors allege that the group assaulted Mupanduki with open hands and broomsticks, leaving him with a deep cut to his forehead. They also allege that the investigator’s service pistol, a Norinco Star loaded with 11 rounds, was taken and that his Samsung A56 mobile phone was removed from his pocket and smashed on the ground.
The pistol was later recovered from Chinyemba, according to the prosecution. The men face charges of robbery and malicious damage to property, in addition to the assault case arising from the lodge incident. They were each granted US$100 bail on November 6 and are due back in court on November 24.
The men’s arrests and the ZIMRA officers’ case concern different alleged offences, but both investigations centre on the vehicles and the events surrounding their presence at the lodge. The commission has not publicly named any other customs officials facing arrest in the matter.
The latest case comes after several other investigations into alleged customs fraud involving ZIMRA officials and clearing agents. In July 2026, ZACC arrested revenue officer Emmanuel Munyaradzi Charimari and clearing agents Basil Tawanda Gayihayi and Takudzwa Hamilton Nyikadzino over a consignment of 140 bales of clothing, weighing about 30 tonnes, brought from Tanzania.
ZACC said the goods were allegedly moved through Chirundu Border Post without the required customs procedures. The commission said documents described the cargo as 50 drums of honey weighing 22,000 kilogrammes and destined for South Africa. Investigators intercepted the truck in Chitungwiza the day after it crossed into Zimbabwe. The 3 suspects were arrested at Chirundu on July 27 and granted US$200 bail each. Another suspect, Ishmael Gezani, was reported to be at large.
A year earlier, a ZIMRA official and 4 clearing agents were arrested over declarations linked to 2 trucks stopped after leaving customs control at Forbes Border Post. Investigators found undeclared goods in the trucks, although the paperwork described agricultural machinery and spare parts. The prosecution said one truck had been falsely recorded as physically inspected in the customs system, while the other was released without the required physical checks or scanning. ZIMRA was allegedly deprived of US$18,979.
Earlier vehicle-import investigations also focused on false clearance records and unpaid duty. In 2019, ZACC arrested a ZIMRA official described by investigators as a suspected central figure in a vehicle-import scam at Beitbridge. The case involved vehicles allegedly brought into the country without customs duty or declared at lower values. ZIMRA later identified 485 vehicles with suspected fraudulent registration records and said 108 had been seized at that stage. The authority’s integrity information also recorded 20 ZIMRA officers arrested in connection with the vehicle-clearance investigations.
At Plumtree, an earlier case involved officers accused of clearing 50 vehicles without charging import duty. ZIMRA’s integrity records identified Teeklar Ndlovu and Norest Ushe as having been arrested in that investigation, while another officer was reported to be sought by police. The cases involved different officials, vehicles and border procedures from the current investigation.
For the current case, investigators are examining how 2 South African-registered vehicles could remain in Harare after their customs records showed completed exits. The arrests of Chabuda and Chaurura shift the inquiry from the cars’ discovery at Brompton Guest Lodge to the process by which those departure records were entered at Plumtree. ZACC has not announced further arrests in connection with the SUVs.