Bulawayo – Two Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officers accused of fraudulently clearing two luxury vehicles through Plumtree Border Post have been granted US$500 bail each.

The officers, Edwin Mhondiwa Chabuda and Upenyu Chaurura, appeared before Bulawayo Magistrate Mark Dzira, who granted them bail on Wednesday.

The pair are facing charges of criminal abuse of duty as public officers over the alleged falsification of exit records for a Lamborghini Urus and a Mercedes-Benz GLE 53.

The vehicles were seized by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) at a lodge in Newlands, Harare, last week.

ZACC alleges that the officers cleared the vehicles for exit at Plumtree without physically inspecting them, in breach of ZIMRA’s standard operating procedures.

They are accused of falsely certifying that the vehicles had left the country when they had allegedly remained in Zimbabwe.

The case has drawn attention following reports that Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, son of the late former President Robert Mugabe, was among five people arrested during the operation in which the vehicles were seized.

The reported involvement of Mugabe has not been independently confirmed by ZACC.