THREE ministers were left with a massive grocery bill – except they didn’t order the goods.

Police in Harare say they have smashed a fraud in which a man misrepresented himself as THREE cabinet ministers, and once as a former deputy minister, before walking away with goods worth US$7,000 from a supermarket chain.

Stanlas Mukawu, 30, posed variously on the phone as Finance Minister Tendai Biti, Information Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa, former Rural and Social Amenities deputy minister Joel Biggie Matiza and made his last orders as Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi.

Police say Mukawu’s luck ran out when a manager at a Victoria Foods supermarket in Harare found the voices of the “ministers” strikingly similar when “Mzembi” rang in with an order.

Staff at the supermarket rang the police and Mukawu was arrested after a trap. He was bailed to appear at a later date by a Harare magistrate last week.

Police say Mukawu first rang the supermarket on September 15 and claimed to be Biti. He wanted 40 bags of flour on credit, which staff were willing to extend.

The minister’s “employees” then turned up with a truck and drove away with the flour.

Impressed with his success, police say Mukawu rang in again, this time posing as Matiza. Again, he ordered 40 bags of flour and his “employees” were dispatched to pick up the order.

He repeated the trick posing as Chamisa, then a fourth time using the name of a company called Melbourne Investments.

Now feeling clever, police say, Mujawu called Victoria Foods a FIFTH time – this time claiming to be Mzembi.

But Victoria Foods’ sales and marketing manager, a Mrs Chagonda, thought she had heard it all before and called in the police.