ENOCK MUCHINJO
THE file of a company that was used to swindle the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) out of over US$1 million has disappeared at the Registrar of Companies in Harare allegedly to cover up the scam, it has been established.
A forensic audit into the financial activities of Zifa is currently underway, and it is believed that this particular case is among those under the spotlight in the probe.
The NewsHawks in May exclusively revealed how the money was siphoned out of Zifa through a corporate branding company owned by a senior official of the national football federation in a dodgy kit deal, bringing those involved under the spotlight on suspicion of theft by swindle as well as serious conflict of interest.
Investigations shows that the company’s documents could have been pulled out in “desperate effort to defeat an audit process”, according to sources.
The Zifa officials who were implicated in deal – in which varying payments were made from Zifa’s foreign currency account between sometime in 2020 to around April 2021 – have since been sacked following a litany of charges.
A new leadership has been installed at Zifa, although the country remains under international suspension by Fifa due to the intervention of the government-appointed Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), which was forced to act in the Zimbabwean football crisis although against the laws and regulations of the world football governing body.
The SRC has repeatedly insisted it is confident of an immediate reinstatement by Fifa.
