A Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) investigating officer, Henry Chapwanya, who was instrumental in the investigation of the fraud case involving businessmen Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe, tragically died just days before the delivery of the judgment.
Chapwanya, known for his work on several fraud cases, left a legacy that is beyond imagination.
Sadly, he was involved in an accident and was buried last Tuesday, a day before Justice Pisirayi Kwenda delivered a judgment that convicted the duo.
He is survived by a wife and a six-month-old baby.
Chapwanya was laid to rest on Tuesday in Gutu.
Mpofu and Chimombe were convicted on Wednesday of defrauding the government of US$7 million in an US$87 million Presidential Goats Scheme tender.
The pair, appearing before Justice Pisirayi Kwenda, had entered “not guilty” pleas.
They now await sentencing on October 31.
Mpofu denied the allegations, insisting that the dispute was a civil matter and that the state erred in charging him in his personal capacity instead of through their company, Blackdeck.
The two have been in remand prison for over a year since their arrest in June of last year.
They are scheduled to return to court on October 31 for the sentencing hearing.
In his ruling, High Court Judge Pisirayi Kwenda stated that the first accused, Mpofu, “shot himself in the foot.”
He argued that all of Mpofu’s actions were taken in his capacity as a director and that he was directed to do so, indicating that no further proof was needed by the state.
The second accused contended that his case was “strange” because the state closed its case without detailing how he was involved in the misrepresentation.
His closing submission asserted that “the state failed to bring him any closer to the case,” insisting that he was implicated merely by association.
Kwenda concluded that there was no basis for invoking the doctrine of association, as “no law was cited.”
 investigating officer, Henry Chapwanya, who was instrumental in the investigation of the fraud){kind=link}