ZIM LOVERS’ US$73M HEIST SENDS TREMORS IN SA, UK
G UK-BASED NCUBE IS ACCUSED OF MISAPPROPRIATING US$73M G SA-BASED MWAKURUDZA IS ACCUSED OF RECEIVING US$1,8M
TWO Zimbabwean lovers — one based in the United Kingdom and another in South Africa — have been sucked into a fraudulent scheme in which an estimated US$73 million was misappropriated in one of the biggest corporate heists in recent years in the world.
Zwelithini Ncube, who is based in the UK, is accused of being the mastermind of the scheme and allegedly pampered his girlfriend, Patience Mwakurudza, with cash amounting to more than US$1.8 million over a number of years.
Ncube, who claims he is a chartered accountant whose qualifications have been questioned, ran his UK company, Unified Payroll Limited into the ground.
He registered UPL in the UK in 2015 and was its founder, sole director and sole shareholder.
On December 15, 2021, Andrew McTear and Jo Watts of McTear Williams & Wood Ltd were appointed joint liquidators of UPL.
The company was an employment agency and employed mainly health-care workers and supplied them to other employment agencies, who would then link them to employers, who were primarily the UK’S National Healthcare Service Trusts.
This is a field in which many Zimbabweans are involved in throughout the UK.
Ncube is being accused of using two firms, Applemed UK and Applemed SA, to channel the funds to Mwakurudza.
She used to be the manager in charge of compliance at Applemed SA.
The payment trail of the funds shows that once they flowed into Applemed SA, the money was channelled into Mwakurudza’s FNB bank account.
Court papers in SA show that Mwakurudza claims she “became the innocent scape goat of Ncube’s fraudulent design and because of their relationship she was taken advantage of and asked no questions.
“(Mwakurudza) does not contest that Ncube misappropriated moneys from UPL, but she does contest that she was a partner in that fraudulent enterprise and hence the application for sequestration is unfounded.”
According to the liquidators, Ncube is liable for over £40m in respect of national insurance contributions (NICS) and pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) and £17m in respect of VAT.
His company, according to the court papers, was not required to deduct PAYE and NICS but only VAT, which the firm failed to declare to the UK’S tax, payments and customs authority.
Judge Norman Manoim of the Gauteng High Court has ordered Mwakurudza to show cause why her estate should not be placed under final sequestration.
Judge Manoim ruled that the payments were made in contravention of the Insolvency Act.
The Act states that a debtor commits an act of insolvency by making or attempting to make any disposition of any of their property which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing creditors or preferring one creditor above another.
The judge noted that her assets were valued at R25m while her liabilities exceeded R34.7m and she had outstanding debt of a bond on her property.
“I did not know that the primary source of the income was from the applicant (UPL) as I never ran financial interest of Mr. Zweli Ncube,” said Mwakurudza.
“I did not play any pivotal role as I was never a director or shareholder of the applicant.”