Businessmen Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe have tried their best to fight for freedom.<\/p>\n
But it seems all their efforts have hit the wall.<\/p>\n
This comes after the Supreme Court rejected their appeals against their prison sentences for fraud in the Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme.<\/p>\n
Mpofu\u2019s 15-year sentence and Chimombe\u2019s 12-year sentence remain unchanged.<\/p>\n
Justice of Appeal George Chiweshe, delivering the unanimous judgment, said the aggravating features clearly outweighed the mitigatory factors.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder the circumstances, the court a quo cannot be faulted in determining that a custodial sentence was called for.<\/p>\n
The court found their actions caused significant prejudice to public funds meant to alleviate poverty.<\/p>\n
Justice Chiweshe observed that:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a fraud involving public funds meant to alleviate poverty across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe actual prejudice to the fiscus was enormous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mpofu argued the case merely concerned misrepresented qualifications for the tender.<\/p>\n
The court dismissed this, noting resources were lost due to fraudulent claims about the company\u2019s capacity.<\/p>\n
Justice Chiweshe concluded the lower court correctly applied sentencing principles, leaving no prospect of success in the appeal.<\/p>\n
Both applications were dismissed, although limited legal questions remain open for future appeals, with legal experts saying the appeals will be academic considering the court\u2019s decision on the sentence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Businessmen Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe have tried their best to fight for freedom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[1283,689,690],"class_list":["post-6167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-crime-and-courts-zimbabwe","tag-justice-of-appeal-george-chiweshe","tag-mike-chimombe","tag-moses-mpofu"],"yoast_head":"\n