TWO Mashwede Holdings employees were yesterday convicted of stealing fuel coupons worth nearly US$17 000 and faking an armed robbery to cover up.
Edson Mashamhanda, who was a book-keeper and Ernest Nevanji
Madanhire an ICT officer, were convicted of fraud by Harare magistrate Mrs
Evelyn Mashavirakure after a full trial.
They are expected back in court today for their submissions
in mitigation and sentence.
The State led by Mr Moses Mapanga told the court that the
two were first offenders with no records of previous convictions.
Mr Mapanga proved during trial that in March 2020, Mashwede
Holdings fuel coupons printer, Laptime Design and Print, printed 40 000 petrol
coupons which were collected by Madanhire.
Madanhire then hooked up with Mashamhanda and hatched a
plan to dupe their employer. On March 11, 2020 Mashamhanda declared to the
accounts department that he had received 17 000 litres worth of petrol coupons
from Madanhire.
On March 24, Madanhire sold another 6 000 litres of fuel
coupons for US$7 500, which he acknowledged receipt and Mashamhanda deducted
US$600 as commission and handed him US$6 900. No funds were remitted to the
company, which owned the coupons, and recorded into Mashwede’s books.
April 4, 2020, an armed robber pounced on Mashwede
Holdings’ premises where money and fuel coupons and other property was stolen.
Mashamhanda and Madanhire, then decided to report that the
coupons they had taken earlier, the 17 000 litres, would be added to those
coupons stolen by the robbers, taking the total to 23 000 litres had been
stolen.
Mashwede Holdings carried out a stock reconciliation to
establish how many coupons had been stolen and revealed that Mashamhanda was in
custody of 11 240 litres of fuel coupons.
Out of caution, Mashwede Holdings notified fuel attendants
not to accept fuel coupons stolen during the robbery.
On April 8, 2020 a client David Clinton went to Mashwede
service station to redeem fuel coupons purchased from Madanhire on March 24,
2020, well before the robbery.
Further investigations at Mashwede Holdings revealed that
the two had failed to declare fuel coupons worth 3 000 litres tat were
collected from the printers
It was also revealed that they had sold 6 000 litres worth
of fuel coupons to David Clinton’s companies with 3 000 litres having not been
declared.
On March 23, 2020 Mashamhanda received US$2 050 from
Muvengwa Changamire from the sale of fuel coupons from previous debtors.
Mashamhanda only recorded the money in Muvengwa
Changamire’s debtors’ book, failed to record it in the company books and
converted the proceeds to his own use.
He received US$1 000 cash from Changamire from sale of 1
000 litres of fuel coupons, which money he converted to own use. About 760
litres sold at US$1,15 a litre and redeemed well before the robbery was not recorded
and they were valued at US$874.
Further investigations revealed that the company had been
defrauded of a total of US$16 850. Herald
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