HARARE, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The commissioner general of Zimbabwe's tax agency, Gershem Pasi who had been on suspension since May last year has resigned, board chairperson Willia Bonyongwe said on Wednesday.
Pasi, together with five other Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) top executives were sent on forced leave after being implicated in a vehicle import scam.
"I can confirm that he (Pasi) has resigned. He was undergoing a disciplinary hearing, but he decided to terminate it. The board will meet next week to discuss his perks as we had charges against him," Bonyongwe was quoted as saying by state-run news agency New Ziana.
Pasi was expected to answer to at least 45 charges of alleged abuse of office and misconduct in the ZIMRA disciplinary hearing.
Meanwhile, the High Court on Wednesday dismissed an urgent application by Pasi who was seeking to have his suspension challenge heard as an urgent case.
In her ruling, Justice Makoni said Pasi should exhaust internal ZIMRA procedures.
"There is a disciplinary board waiting to hear him. After the board, there is an internal appeal mechanisms, after the internal appeal mechanism, the applicant also has the option of going to Labor and Supreme Court if he so wishes," said Justice Makoni.
ZIMRA has in recent years been tainted by corruption allegations among its management and employees.
It is speculated that the revenue collection agency has lost millions of U.S. dollars to a syndicate of dealers who process counterfeit undervalued import documents to smuggle vehicles and other products into the country.
Some senior ZIMRA officials allegedly use bogus clearing agents to import personal vehicles.
