A Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) agent based in Harare has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for extorting two vehicles from a land developer as payment for personal security.
Nesbert Chinoputsa was charged with extortion when he appeared before magistrate Noticia Shenje.
Chinoputsa was found guilty and slapped with a 12-month jail term. He, however, will serve an effective nine months after the magistrate suspended three months on condition of good behaviour.
Allegations were that in 2019, property developer Brian Michael Jackson asked Chinoputsa to provide personal security following suspicious incidents at his workplace and residence.
The court was told that Chinoputsa instilled fear in Jackson by telling him that some people wanted to kill him.
He told Jackson to surrender the two vehicles for security operations that would prevent the recurrence of the unusual events.
Jackson surrendered the two vehicles to Chinoputsa, a Mazda B2200 truck and a Nissan Bluebird sedan as payment for providing personal security services.
On 7 January 2022, Jackson reported the matter to police, leading to the recovery of the vehicles at Chinoputsa’s residence in Kuwadzana Extension.
In sentencing Chinoputsa, Shenje said he had put the name of the CIO into disrepute and that his moral blameworthiness was very high since he was supposed to protect the public. | NewsDay