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(NEWZIMBABWE) Exclusive: ZEC nominee wanted by FBI

Exclusive: ZEC nominee wanted by FBI
by
01/10/2009 00:00:00

Fugitive ... Phillip Mazorodze in an FBI picture posted on Interpol website

ONE of the 12 nominees to the body that will conduct Zimbabwe’s new elections is a suspected FRAUDSTER on the FBI’s wanted list, New Zimbabwe.com can reveal. Phillip Mazorodze has a warrant for his arrest over charges of “counterfeiting/forgery, fraud and thefts” in the US state of Indiana.

Mazorodze is also listed as “wanted” by the FBI on the Interpol website, but he successfully presented himself as a man of impeccable integrity in interviews for commissioners last week.

His name, along with those of 11 others picked from 25 applicants, has been forwarded to President Robert Mugabe for approval.

But our revelations today will raise new questions about the background checks conducted by Parliament’s Committee on Standing Rules and Orders into the short-listed candidates.

An alert New Zimbabwe.com reader who couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Mazorodze’s name on the shortlist said: “A little background check will show not only that Mazorodze is not a Dr, but a polished conman.

“This guy is wanted by a lot of Zimbabweans in the United States, especially in Indiana, for conning them. He had to leave his wife and three kids in the US in a huff because the FBI was after him and catching up with him.”

Mazorodze is a founder of a US-registered charity, WISHKIDS. Sources say he used the organisation to appeal for funding from several US companies “under the guise that their donations would be used to support orphaned kids whose parents had died of AIDS in Zimbabwe.”

A source said: “Through WISHKIDS, Mazorodze got computers, printers, medical supplies, clothing, tinned and dried foods and a whole bunch of other stuff that he went on to sell.

“He went on to start a church in Indiana and made himself a church elder. He milked this church dry. It would be sad to have this guy as a member of any organisation in Zimbabwe – let alone the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which must prevent cheating in elections.”

An internet search reveals, however, that some wheelchairs did make their way to Zimbabwe. In May 2008, Mazorodze donated 15 wheelchairs to 12 clinics around Harare promising that 700 more wheelchairs would be delivered from China. It was not possible to confirm if those wheelchairs were delivered.

Our source reveals that Mazorodze, who calls himself Dr, may also be overstating his educational accomplishments.

“He has one of those cut-and-paste Nigerian degrees. He worked in Indianapolis as a physical therapist before they flushed him out,” our source reveals.

It was not immediately possible to obtain comment from Mazorodze last night.
Mazorodze is nominated along with three members of the disbanded Zimbabwe Electoral Commission -- Joyce Kazembe, Theophellus Gambe and Sibongile Ndlovu. The new nominees include University of Zimbabwe Professor Geoff Feltoe, Rev. Goodwill Shana of the Christian Alliance, Anti-Corruption Commission member and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority General Manager Phillip Chigaru.

Labels: MDC CORRUPTION, ZEC

posted by MrK @ 4:26 PM