From prison to palaces: Life, time and 'crimes' of Mr Moneybags

In life, he was flamboyant and portrayed a larger than life image. In death, an air of mystery surrounds the opulence he was always associated with.  Wicknell Munodaani Chivayo, the Zimbabwean millionaire tenderpreneur who died in a helicopter crash on Wednesday, aged 43, built a public persona on luxury cars, presidential handshakes and billion-dollar state contracts.

The source of his riches has always been a debate in Zimbabwe and abroad. Behind the glitzy social media posts and the headline grabbing donations of vehicles lies a far darker narrative, a chronicle of fraud, money laundering and a seemingly charmed existence in the face of serious criminal allegations spanning more than two decades. The secrets of probably the most controversial wheeler-deeler in the continent run deep.

From his first prison term at 24 to the last anti-corruption probes into election tenders, his career was as much defined by courtrooms and commissions as by boardrooms and presidential meetings.

Chivayo’s first major collision with the law came in 2004. At the age of 24, he was convicted of theft by false pretences and illegal foreign currency exchange, effectively money laundering.

The case involved duping South African national Shane Peter Nesbitt by promising him that he would deposit ZWL$36.7 million (Sh14.68 million), then valued at US$101,402 (Sh13.14 million), into Nesbitt’s account in exchange for R837,000 (Sh6.55 million), then valued at US$45,928 (Sh5.95 million).

He had persuaded his victim that he could multiply money, then failed to deliver on the promise.

A court sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment with labour, and he served time at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare, emerging around 2006.

Even as he later rebuilt his reputation as an energy and logistics entrepreneur, that conviction remained a defining fact in his biography, cited in profiles and court papers for more than two decades.

By 2011, Chivayo was back in court, this time in Zimbabwe, facing a heavier slate of allegations.

In March 2011, Zimbabwe’s state controlled newspaper, The Chronicle, reported that Chivayo had been arrested on eight counts of fraud and money laundering, with five of his vehicles confiscated by the state as part of the investigation.

The charges stemmed from allegations that he had created fictitious procurement websites that disappeared after receiving payments, a scheme said to have defrauded members of the public.

The Chronicle described him as an internet fraudster and one of the most wanted criminals in Southern Africa at the time.

After a full trial, however, he was acquitted on all eight counts.

The most protracted legal battle in Chivayo’s career centred on the Gwanda Solar Project.

In 2015, his company, Intratrek Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, was awarded a contract valued at roughly US$172 million to US$173 million (Sh22.28 billion to Sh22.41 billion) to construct a 100-megawatt solar plant for the state-owned Zimbabwe Power Company, with Chint Electric Company Limited of China as its technical partner.

Intratrek received an advance payment of approximately US$5.6 million (Sh725.48 million) from ZPC, paid in US$200,000 (Sh25.91 million) batches per week in a move reportedly designed to sideline board approval as the amounts fell within the managing director’s threshold.

By 2017, Chivayo was publicly acknowledging that construction had not begun. The plant was never built, prompting criminal charges.

In August 2018, Chivayo was arrested and charged with fraud, money laundering and contravening the Exchange Control Act in connection with the advance payment. The case zigzagged through the courts for years.

The High Court initially found in his favour, only for the Supreme Court to reverse that ruling and order that he stand trial.

At magistrates’ court level, proceedings concluded with his acquittal in 2023, with reports citing an unreasonable delay in prosecution and the state’s failure to establish a case.

The outcome, delivered between 2023 and 2024 depending on the account, closed the criminal chapter but left the Gwanda affair as a lasting symbol of the controversies around his state contracts.

Chivayo’s most recent legal scrutiny arose from Zimbabwe’s 2023 harmonised elections.

Leaked documents and voice recordings in 2024 linked him to the supply of election materials through Ren Form, a Johannesburg based printing company, in a deal reported to be worth around US$100 million (Sh12.96 billion).

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was said to have paid Ren Form at least R570 million (Sh4.46 billion) for ballot papers, biometric voter registration equipment and other materials.

Former business partners of Chivayo, Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu, alleged that costs had been inflated by as much as 235 per cent and accused him and Ren Form of price gouging.

South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre conducted a bombshell investigation.

Its analysis, based on bank accounts between April 2023 and May 2024, found that Zimbabwe’s finance ministry paid over R1.1 billion (Sh8.61 billion) to Ren Form, and that more than R800 million (Sh6.26 billion) of that money, roughly 80 per cent, was transferred to business bank accounts controlled by Wicknell Chivayo, mainly Intratrek Holdings and Dolintel Trading Enterprise.

The FIC report identified R36.5 million (Sh285.83 million) in payments from Chivayo’s Standard Bank account between January 2023 and September 2024 that appear to be payments towards car purchases.

The report also showed that Zimbabwe’s Finance Ministry paid R157 million (Sh1.23 billion) directly to Chivayo’s South African registered firm, Edenbreeze, in July and September 2024, after ZACC announced its investigation. Ren Form had wildly inflated its prices.

A central server invoiced at R23 million (Sh180.11 million) normally retails for about R90,000 (Sh704,781), while portable toilets charged at R68,700 (Sh537,983) each sell for about R10,000 (Sh78,309) per unit.

Leaked audio recordings reportedly captured Chivayo discussing the sharing of the proceeds with Zimbabwean officials referred to by their initials or code names.

In Zimbabwe, the Anti-Corruption Commission launched an investigation after a South African non-profit, Open Secrets, alleged Chivayo had received a windfall as the facilitator of the tender.

Chimombe and Mpofu were summoned, charged in separate matters and held on remand, while Chivayo himself was not arrested.

In December 2025, ZACC announced it had found no evidence directly implicating him in the transaction, adding that no contract existed between ZEC and any of the parties mentioned in the allegations.

In South Africa, media reports initially suggested Chivayo was under investigation by the Hawks over alleged money laundering linked to the R800 million (Sh6.26 billion) payments.

 In July 2026, however, the Hawks confirmed there was no active investigation into him, and News24 issued an apology for incorrectly linking him to a money laundering probe.

The FIC, however, clarified that it does not conduct criminal investigations but provides financial intelligence to law enforcement agencies.

Beyond his criminal and anti-corruption cases, Chivayo faced a bitter cross border divorce battle that left his assets frozen and a private jet grounded in South Africa.

The applicant was his estranged wife, Louise Sonja Madzikanda, who sought to secure a share of the couple’s estate while divorce proceedings continued before the Harare High Court.

In January 2026, the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria granted an interim order to prevent dissipation of assets, barring Chivayo and associated entities from accessing or dealing with listed assets pending further proceedings. On 23 April 2026, Justice Teffo revived that order, reinstating strict controls over funds held in multiple accounts and prohibiting any transactions that could reduce balances or alter ownership of properties tied to Chivayo or his businesses.

The order targeted accounts at First National Bank, ABSA, Nedbank, Standard Bank, Capitec and Discovery Bank.

It also extended to high value movable assets, most notably a Bombardier Challenger 300 private jet, registered as ZS ACT.

The Airports Company of South Africa was directed to prevent the aircraft from moving, effectively grounding it and denying Chivayo access.

In court papers, Chivayo argued that the South African order had disrupted business operations, frozen company bank accounts and affected the use of the aircraft.

He approached the Harare High Court on an urgent basis, denying that he was married to Madzikanda and contending that their customary union had already been dissolved in 2024 through the payment and acceptance of gupuro, a traditional divorce token recognised in Shona custom. Madzikanda, meanwhile, pursued claims to a share of luxury assets, including several high-end cars and a private jet, as part of the matrimonial estate.

In April 2026, the High Court in Harare finalised the divorce settlement in a consent order before Justice Amy Tsanga, granting Madzikanda a US$5 million (Sh647.75 million) maintenance package and a comprehensive parenting plan for the couple’s minor children.

Of the US$5 million (Sh647.75 million), US$2.2 million (Sh285.01 million) was already settled, with the remaining US$2.8 million (Sh362.74 million) to be deposited into an account controlled by Madzikanda within 30 days.

In June 2026, the High Court dismissed Chivayo’s bid to strike out Madzikanda’s claims over the existence of their union and division of assets, ruling that the matter must proceed under an earlier consent order agreed to by both parties.

The substantive dispute over the relationship and any resulting property rights was set to continue before the High Court under case number HCHF 62/26.

Chivayo’s lawyers later insisted that the properties targeted by the non-dissipation order, including the private jet, were not owned by their client, a point contested in the ongoing litigation.

In November 2024, Chivayo’s younger brother, Joachim G6 Chivayo, and Ayanda Brian Gungwa were arrested in Brakpan, South Africa, during a Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation operation.

They were found in possession of six bars of unwrought gold valued at approximately R15 million (Sh117.46 million).

A Mercedes Benz SUV was also seized during the operation. Both accused were granted bail of R20,000 (Sh156,618) each by the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court on 28 November 2024, with strict conditions prohibiting them from leaving South Africa or Gauteng province and requiring them to report to Brakpan Police Station every Sunday.

However, both men failed to appear in court, prompting the issuance of J50 arrest warrants by the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court on 11 March 2025.

The Hawks have since circulated the pair as wanted suspects. Joachim Chivayo is the younger brother of Wicknell Chivayo. No formal link has been made between Wicknell Chivayo and the South African R15 million (Sh117.46 million) gold case, as outlined in court proceedings.

He is survived by his second wife, Lucy Muteke, who also died in the helicopter crash, and two minor children from his union with Sonja Madzikanda.