Vodacom Tanzania boss arrested over alleged fraudulent use of facilities
Wednesday April 03 2019
Hisham Hendi, Vodacom Tanzania managing director. He has been arrested over alleged fraudulent use of telco's facilities. PHOTO | VODACOM
Newly appointed Vodacom Tanzania managing director Hisham Hendi and several staff were on Tuesday arrested in Dar es Salaam over alleged fraudulent use of facilities.
Vodacom Tanzania said on Wednesday that Mr Hendi and other staff were being questioned “in relation to the alleged fraudulent use of network facilities.”
“We are fully co-operating with an investigation team led by the Tanzania Police Force,” the telco said in a statement.
According to Vodacom, no formal charges have been preferred against these employees yet, but “they may appear in Court, later today (Wednesday)”.
In June 2018, two chief executives of mobile phone companies were charged with fraud as part of a crackdown against tax evasion.
Le Van Dai, managing director of Halotel Tanzania and Sherif El Barbary, managing director of Zanzibar Telecom Company (Zantel) were charged alongside four other suspects with conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion, causing the government losses of more than Tsh1.2 billion ($530,000).
The offences included use of unregistered SIM cards, operating without licence, illegally importing and installing communications equipment, and fraudulent use of telecommunication networks.
Vodacom said the recent developments will not have an impact on service delivery as “measures have been taken to ensure that the company’s operations continue free of interruptions and disruptions”.