Mpofu, Chimombe handed combined 27 years in jail over US$7m goat scheme fraud

HARARE – High Court Justice Pisirayi Kwenda has sentenced businessmen Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe to lengthy jail terms after finding them guilty of defrauding the State of more than US$7 million under the Presidential Goat Pass-On Scheme.

Mpofu was handed an effective 15-year sentence, after receiving 22 years with seven years suspended, three on condition of good behaviour and four on condition of restitution.

Chimombe will serve an effective 12 years, after being sentenced to 17 years, with five years suspended, three for good behaviour and two tied to restitution. Both men have given notice to appeal against their convictions and sentences.

In delivering his judgment, Justice Kwenda ruled that the presumptive starting point for sentencing in the case was 20 years, citing aggravating circumstances. He said the fraud involved “huge sums of public money” and constituted a serious breach of trust.

The judge said the court was “shocked” that the defence insisted Blackdeck, the company used in the fraud, was registered, despite evidence proving it did not legally exist.

Justice Kwenda said the government “suffered actual prejudice” as Blackdeck failed to deliver the goats despite receiving an advance payment of over US$7 million.

Only 4,000 goats were supplied out of the 85,000 contracted. Blackdeck had secured an US$87 million tender despite operating with fraudulent tax documents.

He further criticised the committee responsible for evaluating bids, saying it failed to conduct proper due diligence and accepted documents that “appeared genuine” but were fraudulent.

“The government suffered actual prejudice as Blackdeck did not deliver despite an advanced payment of US$7 million,” the judge noted.

“The committee handling the bids failed to do their due diligence and took the Blackdeck documents which appeared genuine at face value with fraudulent document appearing as genuine.”

During mitigation last week, Mpofu publicly apologised to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zimbabweans, expressing regret over the collapse of the goat scheme.

He accepted responsibility for the flawed project but insisted that the irregularities stemmed from the company’s operations rather than personal wrongdoing. He said he had no funds but would comply with any restitution order.

Chimombe, through his lawyer Ashiel Mugiya, said he was willing to compensate the State and cited assets worth over US$1 million, including a Borrowdale property valued at US$800,000, which could be used toward restitution.

His counsel, Professor Lovemore Madhuku, urged the court to consider barring him from future public contracts instead of imposing a harsh custodial term.

Prosecutor Whisper Mabhaudhi dismissed the compensation pledges as insincere, noting that past attempts to recover the money faced resistance. He argued for a stiff sentence, insisting the case represented “unprecedented fraud” that disadvantaged vulnerable communities.

“They stole from the poorest of the poor,” he said. Mabhaudhi further warned that any lenient penalty would undermine public confidence in the justice system.