Wicknell Chivayo’s US$250,000 Range Rover Gift To Lawyer Uriri Was ‘Fraudulently Imported’—Documents

The luxury Range Rover that the late businessman Wicknell Chivayo announced as a gift to prominent lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri may have been smuggled into Zimbabwe through fraudulent customs paperwork, a new investigation has claimed.

Documents seen by ZimLive indicate that the vehicle was cleared by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) in Uriri’s name without his knowledge, allegedly using an uncertified copy of a passport that had already been cancelled.

The Paper Trail Behind The Range Rover Customs Clearance

The 2026 Land Rover Autobiography was purchased from a Johannesburg dealership, Verve Auto Sports, for R2,882,782 (approximately US$173,700 at the current exchange rate of R16.58 to the US dollar). ZIMRA then collected US$74,460.57 (about R1,234,556) in import duty on the vehicle.

The critical issue centres on the identity of the importer. ZimLive reports that Chivayo supplied an uncertified copy of Uriri’s old passport, which had been cancelled in 2024 after running out of pages, to establish the lawyer as the person bringing the car into the country.

‘The Transfer Is False And Fraudulent’—Legal Expert

Advocate Thabani Mpofu, who reviewed the documents, told ZimLive that the transaction appears to have misrepresented the facts.

“You have a document that says Advocate Uriri imported a vehicle into the country. That document tells a lie about its own contents. The transfer (to settle customs duty) that is presented in Uriri’s name is false and fraudulent,” Mpofu said.

Mpofu argued that Chivayo should have imported the vehicle in his own name and then donated it lawfully to Uriri. He suggested the vehicle should be forfeited to the state.

ZIMRA spokesman Gladman Njani declined to discuss the specific case, citing confidentiality laws. Exquisite Motors owner Victor Vikela said his company merely stored the vehicle at Chivayo’s request and had “nothing whatsoever to do with its acquisition and importation”.

A Rejected Gift And A Trail Of Questions

Chivayo announced the gift on X on September 21, nine days before he died in a helicopter crash near Marondera on September 30. Uriri rejected both the vehicle and a US$50,000 (about R829,000) cash gift described as being “for fuel”.

He told Chivayo the announcement “came as a complete surprise, without prior notice or discussion”. Uriri later declined to comment further, saying:

“You guys must just let Wicknell rest in peace”

Chivayo had subsequently offered the same vehicle to Advocate Silvester Hashiti, along with an additional US$500,000 (about R8.29 million), but died before the transfer could take place.

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