A court ruled yesterday that Terrence Mukupe, a former deputy minister of finance and economic development in Zimbabwe, and three truck drivers will be sentenced next week for importing more than 138,000 litres (36,500 gallons) of diesel without paying duty.
The state argued that the sentence should include a jail term of at least three years plus a fine of at least US$122,000, while the defence lawyer asked for a suspended sentence.
The judge said he had to consider the impact of the crime on the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, which is the victim in the case, as well as the physical, social, psychological, or financial effects of crimes on the victims.
Mukupe and his accomplices were arrested in February 2017 and charged with fraud or alternatively making a false declaration. They entered the country through Forbes Border Post on January 26, 2017, driving tankers from Beira, Mozambique, marked as being en route to the DRC, but the fuel was later found to be water.
Mukupe and his accomplices are in custody pending sentence.
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