The trial of three men accused of pretending to be state security officers and using President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son’s name to extort a mining company has continued in Bulawayo. A magistrate recently struck out one of the seven charges against them.
Munyaradzi Charakupa, 48, from Burnside, Bulawayo, Tawanda Mangi, 32, from Hellensville, Harare, and Victor Jaja, 49, from Toubuk Road, Harare, are facing multiple charges including fraud, extortion, attempted extortion, and impersonating public officials.
The court cleared them of one charge where Jaja was accused of claiming to have killed four people to scare lawyer Dumisani Dube, citing a lack of evidence.
Prosecutors say the trio posed as officers from the President’s Department, the Police Protection Unit, and Military Intelligence. They allegedly threatened to cancel mining licences belonging to Dube’s clients unless he paid them, reportedly extorting more than US$55,000 between February and August 2024.
The men repeatedly invoked the name of Sean Mnangagwa, claiming to act on his behalf. Dube told investigators that he met Sean in Harare, who denied knowing the group and advised him to report the matter to the police.
Among the alleged schemes, the trio forced Dube to hand over US$40,000 on July 23 last year using a forged Power of Attorney that supposedly made them directors of Fools Investment (Pvt) Ltd. On another occasion, they allegedly demanded US$5,800 for “accommodation and car servicing” during a so-called “special deployment.” In August, they reportedly posed as police officers to access Fool’s Mine and attempt an assessment of gold deposits.
The trial has been adjourned to August 22 for further proceedings.
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