News
Chimombe, Mpofu jailed
Moses Mpofu to an effective 15 years in jail and his business partner Mike Chimombe to 12 years.
High Court Justice Pisirayi Kwenda has sentenced local businessman Moses Mpofu to an effective 15 years in jail and his business partner Mike Chimombe to 12 years.
The flamboyant pair was convicted in October of defrauding government of more than US$7 million in a botched “Presidential Goat Pass-On Scheme”.
Mpofu, wearing an expensive Gucci jacket, was jailed for 22 years, but had seven years suspended; three on condition of good behaviour and four on condition of restitution which runs into millions of United States dollars.
Chimombe, donning a high-priced Balenciaga sweater, got 17 years, with three suspended on condition of good behaviour and two upon restitution.
The two have given notice to appeal both conviction and sentence.Kwenda had indicated that the starting point for sentencing was a presumptive 20 years imprisonment.
Prosecutors had been pushing for a 35-year jail term for each man.
Both men were consistently denied bail leading up to today’s sentencing, largely due to the severity of the potential sentence and flight risk concerns.
The court pursued asset recovery – restitution – to reclaim lost public funds.
