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Victor Maphosa and Prosper Dembedza

TWO men yesterday appeared in court on allegations of defrauding unsuspecting people by manufacturing and selling fake Covid-19 certificates.

Grant Tafadzwa Mangwiro (36) and Kufakunani Mufundikwa (41) were facing fraud and forgery charges when they appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Barbra Mateko.

They were remanded in custody to February 4 for bail application.

The court heard that on January 29, detectives from CID Stores and Business received information that the two suspects were issuing fake Covid-19 certificates at Afgate House in Harare.

One of the detectives approached the suspects in room number 107 Afgate House, posing as a prospective client.

The detective said he needed a Covid-19 certificate indicating he had tested negative to the virus as he wanted to travel to South Africa the following day.

He was charged US$30 for the service, but the suspects said they had forgotten the stamp and seal at home in Chitungwiza and would only hand over the document later in the day.

The detective proposed payment of US$20 as deposit saying he would pay the balance of US$10 after receiving the document.

It is alleged that the two accused persons created a fake Covid-19 document which showed that he had been tested and was Covid-19 negative.

After proofreading the document, the detective left on the agreement that they would meet at Mbudzi roundabout at around 3pm after the document had been stamped.

At around 3pm that same day, the detectives went to Mbudzi roundabout to wait for the two accused who arrived at around 5pm.

Mafundikwa handed over the fake document to the detective.

The fake document was purported to have originated from GENAU Laboratory situated at number 52, Baines Avenue, Harare.

It is alleged that soon after handing over the document three other detectives moved in and arrested Mafundikwa and Mangwiro.

Recently, 334 fake Covid-19 certificates were recovered by police from two suspects at Chirundu Border Post, as law enforcement agents intensify operations to weed out criminals producing fake documents.

The two suspects, Simbarashe Tsetse (24) and Freddy Katamanga (31) were arrested after a tip-off, leading to the recovery of the fake Covid-19 certificates, two tubes containing glass capillaries, two testing kits, two receipt books, three plastic capillaries, Covid-19 test record register, methylated spirit bottle and one packet of new needles at their office at Self-Med Complex. 

The duo had no medical qualifications and had just received US$120 from two travellers who intended to cross the border.

According Zimbabwean lawa and World Health Organisation guidelines, travellers must produce Covid-19 clearance certificates issued by a recognised health facility 48 hours before leaving the country.

Most institutions charge around US$65 for the Covid-19 tests and some people have in a bid to cut costs, resorted to paying between US$20 and US$40 for them to be issued with fraudulent certificates.