- Cotton industry professionals beware: Verifying the identity of your “transport company” is a must.
January 30, 2013
Terrence Muzuva, a con artist from Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, was part of a duo who allegedly swindled Olam and Parrogate Glendal Spinners out of $100,000 worth of cotton lint. Posing as a transporter before diverting the load to an unknown destination in South Africa, he was later apprehended and remanded to custody until his hearing on Feb. 12.
The Zimbabwe government alleges that Muzuva, 36, and his accomplice -- who is still at large -- were hired by Moses Ndlovu, an Olam International representative, to pick up one truckload of cotton lint from Parrogate Glendale Spinners in Zimbabwe and transport it to South Africa.
Muzuva, who drove the truck, collected the cotton lint and diverted it to an unknown destination. In order to do so, he obtained fake license plates for his truck and used a fake passport in the name of James Chipunza to cross borders. This is not the first time Muzuva and his partner have committed this crime, either.
In December of 2012 Muzuva, using the same modus operandi, convinced Thomas Zhakata, UTI Exports Supervisor in Zimbabwe, that he was the owner of Boatpoll, a transport company. Having convinced Zhakata of his fake legitimacy, Muzuva and his unidentified partner were offered a contract and subsequently vanished with the fiber. The location of the fiber obtained from either theft remains unknown. Source: AllAfrica (Source: Cotton 24/7)