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Fungai Lupande Court Reporter
OK Zimbabwe reportedly lost $70 000 to two suspected conmen, who hacked into their credit facility system called Money Wave.

Leonard Marange (33) and Philip Maverevedze allegedly spent the money by swiping for groceries in various supermarkets. The pair appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Barbara Chimboza. They are facing fraud charges and their trial date was set as May 9.

The complainant, OK Zimbabwe, is represented by its Queensdale branch accountant Ms Dorris Gurupira. The court heard that OK Zimbabwe has a credit facility called Money Wave which is managed by the Central African Building Society (CABS).

The facility allows OK Zimbabwe customers to open accounts with the supermarket and they can either deposit or withdraw money using the Money Wave card in OK Zimbabwe outlets or Zimswitch.

The prosecutor, Ms Audrey Chogumaira, alleged that on Christmas Day last year, Isaiah Marange opened a Money Wave account number 5888920700342889 at OK Mart branch. He made an initial deposit of $5 using the name Kundai Liberty Musamba.

On Boxing Day last year, Isaiah hacked into the Money Wave system and created account number 5888920700342889 with $35 000. He purported to have used OK Queensdale till point number 5 when in actual fact no cash was deposited into that account.

The fake transaction, however, reflected in the OK Zimbabwe Money Wave system. It is alleged that Isaiah then connived with the pair to start a business involving cash transactions in exchange for money wave swiping facility. The trio allegedly transacted using the fraudulent Money Wave cards in various supermarkets.

On December 28, 2016 Isaiah allegedly hacked into the Money Wave system for the second time. He credited the same account with another $35 000 and the trio went to various supermarkets asking people for cash in exchange for swiping their goods.

 The offence came to light when OK Zimbabwe received a bank statement. The transactions were not matching OK Zimbabwe’s reconciliation statement. A report was made to the police leading to the arrest of the trio. Isaiah has already appeared in court on fraud charges.