A 30-year-old Zimbabwean man has been convicted and sentenced to a $400 fine and 24 months imprisonment by the Harare Magistrates Court on charges of falsifying information and forgery to facilitate further stay in the country of foreign nationals in contravention of the Immigration Act.
Billing Moyo of Warren Park, Harare, appeared before a Harare Magistrate on February 6 2019 facing two separate charges. On the first charge, Moyo was accused of misrepresenting to the Department of Immigration that he was the host to Chinese nationals Wei Jingjian, HaoFeifei and Wu Yifeng for purposes of extending the foreign nationals’ holiday visas.
On the second charge, Moyo tendered an affidavit to the Department of Immigration in support of Hao Feifei’s visa application using his brother, Betwell Moyo’s identity.
Moyo was fined $400 on the first charge and 24 months imprisonment, with six months suspended on the second charge.
Department of Immigration spokesperson Canisia Magaya believes the convictions will send a strong message to would-be offenders.
“We hope this case has sent a clear message to all those who provide shady consultancy services to unsuspecting foreign nationals ripping them off in the process and that their time is up as the long arm of the law has started reaching out to them,” Magaya said.
