BULAWAYO
–
The
trial
of
three
men
accused
of
masquerading
as
state
security
operatives
while
name-dropping
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
son
to
extort
a
mining
firm
has
continued,
after
a
Bulawayo
magistrate
struck
off
one
of
the
seven
charges
they
were
facing.
Munyaradzi
Charakupa,
48,
of
Burnside
in
Bulawayo,
Tawanda
Mangi,
32,
of
Hellensville
in
Harare,
and
Victor
Jaja,
49,
of
Toubuk
Road
in
Harare,
are
jointly
charged
with
fraud,
extortion,
attempted
extortion
and
impersonating
public
officials.
The
court
acquitted
the
trio
on
count
four
—
in
which
Jaja
allegedly
claimed
to
have
killed
four
people
to
intimidate
complainant
Dumisani
Dube,
a
lawyer
—
citing
lack
of
evidence.
Prosecutors
say
the
gang
posed
as
officers
from
the
President’s
Department,
the
Police
Protection
Unit
and
Military
Intelligence,
threatening
to
cancel
mining
licences
belonging
to
Dube’s
clients
unless
he
paid
them.
They
allegedly
extorted
more
than
US$55,000
between
February
and
August
2024.
The
accused
are
said
to
have
repeatedly
invoked
the
name
of
Sean
Mnangagwa,
claiming
they
were
acting
on
his
behalf.
Dube
told
investigators
he
travelled
to
Harare
to
meet
Sean,
who
denied
any
knowledge
of
the
gang
and
advised
him
to
file
a
police
report.
Among
the
charges,
the
three
allegedly
forced
Dube
to
hand
over
US$40,000
on
July
23
last
year
after
producing
a
forged
Power
of
Attorney
purporting
to
make
them
directors
of
Fools
Investment
(Pvt)
Ltd.
On
another
occasion,
they
allegedly
demanded
US$5,800
for
“accommodation
and
car
servicing”
while
on
“special
deployment.”
In
August,
they
are
said
to
have
posed
as
police
officers
to
gain
entry
into
Fools
Mine,
where
they
attempted
to
assess
gold
deposits.
The
trial
was
remanded
to
August
22.