A South Africa-based Zimbabwean professor, Moses Chademana, has found himself at the center of a kidnapping drama involving a staggering sum of cryptocurrency. The incident, which has gripped the attention of authorities across borders, involves the alleged abduction of a couple under the guise of an Interpol operation gone wrong.
Moses Chademana, 60, stood before Harare regional magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa, facing serious charges of kidnapping and impersonation. This court appearance follows his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of Sheperd Sikhosana and his wife Sekayi Adelpha, which purportedly aimed to rob them of cryptocurrency coins worth an estimated US$13 billion.
The court heard a detailed account from prosecutor Lancelot Mutsokoti, who outlined the events leading up to the kidnapping on May 13, 2024. According to allegations, Chademana conspired with accomplices in South Africa to execute the kidnapping plan. The group, pretending to be from Interpol and comprising five black and two white individuals, targeted the couple due to their connections with Falcon Gold Digital Forensic and Crypto Recovery Services—a firm engaged by Sikhosana to recover his wife’s hacked cryptocurrency.
Under the false pretense of a threat from Russian assassins, the kidnappers coerced the couple into their vehicle, claiming they needed to transport them to Interpol Zimbabwe for further questioning. The journey from Johannesburg crossed international lines, bypassing standard immigration processes, and ended at a service station in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe. There, the victims were handed over to Chademana.
In Beitbridge, Chademana, alongside an accomplice still at large, continued the deception by posing as detectives from Interpol Harare. They confiscated the couple’s cell phones and transported them to Harare, where they were secluded in a lodge under strict instructions not to contact anyone.
The situation escalated when Chademana’s South African accomplices alerted him on May 19 that an official kidnapping report had been filed. This development led Chademana to manipulate Sikhosana into misleading his relatives by claiming he was visiting Zimbabwe of his own accord. However, the couple seized an opportunity when left unattended, alerting a relative to their plight and sending their geographical location. This act of quick thinking enabled their rescue and led to the subsequent arrest of Chademana.
