'I Was On The Wanted List': Syndicate Selling Stolen Identity Documents In Zimbabwe Wrecking Lives

An undercover investigation by Awallprintss has revealed that a criminal syndicate is functioning in Harare - one that roves around the metropolis stealing identity documents which they later peddle to their clients in South Africa.

HARARE - With the help of a tip-off - I contacted a dealer who operates in the city’s downtown area through WhatsApp.

The dealer forwarded me a list of documents on offer and their prices after a brief exchange of pleasantries. I wasn't sure whether Malcom was his real name or the name of one of the victims whose identities he had stolen but he had no time for chit-chat - he wanted to get straight to business.

Pretending to need a passport for a relative who wants to go to South Africa, Malcom said he could help me. He said his service offers documentation for those that wish to travel to South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and more.

He then asked me for my relative’s gender, age, complexion and my kin’s current pictures as he needed all this information to match me with a document that had striking similarities to my 'family member.'

“I have a match, you need to pay an equivalent of US$10 through real time gross settlement (RTGS) or through mobile transaction to show interest and willingness before we can meet,” he said.

The documents ranged from as cheap as US$15 for an ID to US$100 for a passport that still has much of its pages. While a new and fabricated cost US$150 half - the price of applying for a new emergency passport at the Registry Office.

Asked why national ID cards were cheaper than all other documents, Malcom told me that they were easy to get from hospitals, banks and any other public places.

“We just collect lost national identity cards and sell them, [once] you have one you can [get] easy money,” he said.

Passports are considered a hustle to have in Zimbabwe due to the insane backlog and waiting times.

Zimbabwe has brought down its passport backlog from 400,000 in August 2020 to about 185,000 in December 2021. But accessing travel documents quickly is a prohibitively expensive process for most, which is why many depend on syndicates such as Malcom.

Some need the documents because they hope to travel to South Africa and get easy jobs such as a truck driver or as a nanny - jobs where a Zimbabwean document might just be enough.

Although this was easy to do in the past - the department of home affairs in South Africa, led by Aaron Motsoaledi, has been closing immigration loopholes amid anti-foreigner rhetoric and threats against businesses that employ foreigners.

At one point EFF leader Julius Malema visited three restaurants to inspect their employment policies and called on 60% of all staff to be South Africans.

The move was widely criticised as being xenophobic. But the truth is - it's becoming increasingly difficult to work in South Africa but some foreigners still take the risks. While others try to get into other neighbouring countries such as Zambia.

A previous investigation by AWP found that there was one man, Diggy, based in South Africa that had built an underground lucrative enterprise using forged visas.

Now we've revealed, thanks to a whistleblower that previously worked with Malcom, that a similar - but perhaps larger - syndicate is operating in Harare.

After Malcom insisted that I pay up so he could arrange someone to hand me the documents - I asked him if this wasn't just one of those scams that would eventually dupe me of money.

Instead of giving me paragraphs that would entice me and make me believe him he said I just had to trust him.

Asked where we could do the actual transaction, he said he would make use of his "boys" who would handover the document to me in Harare’s central business district.

I later learned from the whistleblower that the "boys" he was referring to were homeless children he had recruited from the streets of Harare.

Hundreds of children roam the centre of Harare living in subhuman conditions. Many of them are second generation victims: their poverty is a consequence of their orphanhood.

So when approached with the opportunity to make easy cash - it's almost impossible for them to turn down even if it means putting themselves at risk.

Arrested And Wanted

For an innocent Trymore Shonhiwa,37, April 14 2020 will always bring bad memories. It is the day that he woke up in police custody facing burglary and theft charges which he vehemently denied. But what could he say when his national identity card had been found at the crime scene.

I travelled to Trymore's home in Budiriro, a suburb 5km from central Harare, where he told me of the "shock" arrest that changed the course of his life.

“I have never been found at the wrong side of the law my entire life – my family cried seeing their father left handcuffed by police, they could not believe it,” Shonhiwa, a former banker said.

Despite the officer's conviction that the father of two was guilty - the truth is that someone had stolen his national ID card when he lost it in 2019 and had been using it since then.

His only blunder was the failure to report the lost documents to police.

And then - there's the case of 28-year-old Aaron Kanda of Kuwadzana in Harare, who was surprised to discover that someone was using his passport in neighbouring South Africa when his name appeared on a list of wanted persons.

Kanda worked in South Africa as a truck driver for four years before he got robbed of his critical documents – a passport, driver’s licence and a national identity card which compelled him to return to Zimbabwe.

“I was surprised to see my name circulating on social media on that list.

“I quickly went to Interpol (International Police) to report and it took a lot of explanations to convince them that I was innocent,” he said, adding that a police report he made earlier whilst in South Africa saved the day.

Both accounts are a testimony of how innocent people can end up in serious trouble because of the lucrative underworld of stealing visas, passport and work licenses.

But this issue has been going on for years. Back in 2015 Gauteng police discovered over 892 stolen IDs hidden in a house in Lenasia, South Africa, according to Sowetenlive. Some are believed to have been stolen Zimbabwean identity documents.

Bigger network than imagined

Zimbabwe’s police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi told AWP that cases of identity theft and impersonation have been recorded in the country.

But the numbers do not represent the scale of the issue.

He said 10 and nine cases were recorded between 2019 and 2020 respectively, adding that it is often difficult to stamp out the crime because most people do not report these cases.

“We urge members of the public to report quickly whenever their documents are stolen or lost,” he said, adding that people should secure their vital documents all the time.

According to our research and our whistleblower - cases of stolen identity are a regular occurance

One such example is the case of American citizen, Fortune Aikorogie, 33, who was last year arrested for using a fake Zimbabwean passport for money laundering and visa fraud.

The man used a counterfeit Zimbabwean passport, including name, and US visa bearing his photograph to open a bank account that he later used to swindle thousands of US dollars from elderly women.

The man is said to have obtained the documents from a friend in Africa.

Aikorogie has since appeared before the courts and was later sentenced in October 2021.

Similarly, a 31-year-old Zimbabwean – Tinotenda Madyira who lives in the United States was booked into Coconino County jail for identity theft crimes.

He was also once arrested and convicted in 2013 for a similar crime in Cincinnati, Ohio for selling a list of stolen identities to a Zimbabwean crime ring.

The ring used stolen identities to obtain at least $5 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

Back home, a daring bogus soldier was recently arrested and prosecuted for using a fake Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) identity card.

He used the identity to enjoy free rides in military buses for a full year and access to free health care at military medical facilities.

Cyber criminals – a dangerously silent crime

But identity theft in Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries also come in the form of cyber – crime. Card cloning, fraud, money-laundering through electronic vandalism, among others, are the most common cybercrimes in Zimbabwe, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Cyber criminals can intercept banking transactions or hack into sites where one has made an online-purchase.

A local internet and online security expert, Professor Aaron Kufundika said cyber-crime is a form of identity theft – a dangerously silent crime which has left many in serious debt.

“Considering its impact, this type of crime is massively neglected. It simply does not receive the seriousness it deserves,” he added.

Recently, Irvine Chikoto (22), a tertiary student in banking and investment who was serving as an intern at a local bank in Zimbabwe was arrested for identity theft.

He stole the visa card number, card verification code and expiry date of a client and started ordering goods online.

Two other fraudsters Leeman Mushayi and Prince Kadzungwe were also arrested for identity theft.

This was after they had successfully managed to fraudulently replace the victims SIM-card at a mobile registration company.

They restored the victims WhatsApp and started advertising on social media through her number that they exchange hard currency with soft money at a higher rate.

Several contacts that trusted the victim’s number were defrauded of cash.

Authorities have since come up with the Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill which seeks to consolidate cyber related offences and provide a data protection law for its citizens.

Among other things, the bill aims to deal with issues to do with identity theft.