The Supreme Court dismissed Former Deputy Finance Minister Terrence Mukupe’s appeal against his conviction and sentence last week.
Mukupe was found guilty of smuggling fuel by the High Court and sentenced to a three-year jail term and a US$12,780 fine in November 2023.
In March 2024, High Court judge Benjamin Chikowero sentenced Mukupe and his accomplices, Same Kapisoriso, Joseph Taderera, and Leonard Mudzuto, to three-year jail terms for smuggling 138,979 litres of diesel in 2017.
They were initially jailed for three and a half years, but six months were suspended on condition that they do not commit a similar offence in the next five years.
They were also fined US$12,780 each, with an alternative of an additional two-year prison sentence if they failed to pay the fine.
The four faced fraud charges and an alternative charge of contravening section 174(1) of the Customs and Excise Act (false declaration).
The High Court ruled against their appeal earlier this year. They then appealed to the Supreme Court, where a three-panel bench comprising Justices Hlekani Mwayera, Felistus Chatukuta, and Nicholas Mathonsi heard their case.
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