In a tale that seems stranger than fiction, a Zimbabwean airport security officer paid a massive $400,000 to her pastor as tithing. The woman had pulled off a real-life money heist and stolen a massive $2million from a Pakistani national who was smuggling the money out of the country in hard cash.
However, 31-year-old Roselyn Dunga was undone when her then-boyfriend snitched on her to the police after she cut him out of her newfound wealth.
According to Zimlive, Dunga, who was employed as a security screener at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, pulled off the almost perfect crime last year.
Sometime in October 2021, Dunga was monitoring the x-ray machine for suspicious cargo and dangerous weapons at her work station.
While going through the monotonous routine of her shift, the security officer was stunned when she saw five suitcases filled with cash.
Instead of alerting her supervisors to the crime in progress, Dunga let four bags through without incident and took the remaining bag for herself.
When she completed her shift, Rosemary Dunga somehow managed to walk out of the international airport with the stolen bag.
After getting home, she broke open the locked bag. To her shock, the bag was filled with stacks of US$100 bills. The money totalled US$2 million in cold hard cash.
Being a religious woman, Dunga decided to thank God for blessing her with such a fortune. She took US$400 000, double the prescribed amount, and gave it to her pastor as tithing.
Pastor Edmore Chipisa of the Heavenly Fire Ministries used the US$400 000 to buy a plush new home in Harare’s upscale Gunhill suburb.
Having satisfied her conscience by paying tithing, the Zimbabwean airport security officer went on a splurging spree.
She bought a plush double-storey mansion in the Borrowdale West for US$580 000. She registered the property in her sister Locadia Chumikosi’s name.
Dunga also bought a 19-hectare plot in Selous for US$130 000. This property was registered in her 17-year-old nephew’s name.
Having bought immovable property, Dunga then moved to buy vehicles.
She started her own trucking business and purchased an Iveco truck, three DAF XF 105 truck horses, three flatbed trailers and a 42 000-litre fuel tanker.
She also purchased a Mercedes Benz 350 for US$95 000 and made plans to enjoy her investments.
Dunga also had the security of knowing that the person she had stolen from could not come out and report the matter, as they would also be arrested.
However, in enjoying her newfound wealth, she made one cardinal mistake – she cut out her boyfriend.
Feeling left out and jealous over how things had turned out, the boyfriend snitched on her to the police.
A source from the National Prosecuting Authority told the publication,
“The motivations appear quite simple. She was acquiring property in her name and the names of her relatives – and he was being left out of the estate she was building. He went to the police with what he knew. You may not like the methods of our Criminal Investigations Department detectives, but they got her to sing like a canary. She took them to every corner where she had invested.”
However, the authorities are yet to identify the owner of the stolen cash. Senior police officers told the publication,
“She told police the traveller was someone of Pakistani origin. It was also her analysis that the total amount being smuggled out was US$10 million in five bags.
“We believe she had a prior arrangement with someone to smuggle a large amount of money out, and she stole from that person knowing full well they would most certainly not come back for it.”
Dunga and Pastor Chipisa were arrested in November last year and are currently out on bail.
The authorities have since obtained a High Court injunction stopping the two from selling any of their properties until the matter is concluded.
RGM International Airport has been accused of having lax security.
In October 2020, the president of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation, Henrietta Rushwaya, was arrested after 6 kg of gold was discovered in her handbag. She was allegedly trying to smuggle the gold to Dubai.
