Chief executive officer Farai Muchena (54), group strategy
and performance executive Victor Chaipa (39), group secretary Cosmas Mukwesha
(50) and performance manager Polite Mugwagwa (41) were facing theft charges
when they appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje.
The State is opposed to bail.
The court heard that sometime in 2020, the PSMAS board,
with the objective of generating the much needed foreign currency for the
procurement of pharmaceutical drugs and other related medical equipment, passed
a resolution to the effect that its management will venture into buying and
selling of gold.
It was further resolved that staff members from its
procurement department were to act as buyers and agents for buying the gold on
behalf of the medical aid society.
PSMAS had other investment projects involving cannabis
growing and a micro finance business.
On 18 February 2021, PSMAS, acting on the board resolution,
handed over the projects of gold buying, cannabis growing and micro finance to
Premier Service Holding Company (PSHC) to enable themselves to focus on their
core business of health insurance.
On July 13, 2021, Muchena allegedly sent a memo to PSMAS’
principal officer requesting funding for the gold project which had been taken
over from PSMAS.
It is the State’s case that the funding request amounted to
US$237,794, with US$108,674 as pre-trading funding.
Furthermore, Muchena advised PSMAS about the formation of a
company called Claydust solely for the buying and selling of gold to Fidelity
Printers.
In response, PSMAS disposed of its Zimbabwe Bank (ZB)
shares totalling to 65 9643 valued at US$ 38 000 solely for the funding of the
aforementioned gold project.
Thereafter, and with the intention of stealing money from
PSMAS, the accused persons acting in consent then diverted from the initially
agreed position of using complainant’s procurement team in buying the gold on
behalf of the Society.
The court heard that instead the accused persons engaged 18
private agencies unknown to PSMAS for gold buying.
Subsequently, from the period extending from 2019 to 2022,
the accused persons received gold from five of the private agencies which they
sold to Fidelity Printers, realising cash amounting to US$702 386.80.
This was after having mislead Fidelity Printers that they
needed hard cash for the purchase of drugs and pharmaceuticals, well knowing
that they wanted the cash for themselves.
It is alleged that the accused persons then converted the
money to their own use.
During the period in question, PSMAS realised that the
Society was not benefiting from the gold buying project as no drugs and
pharmaceuticals were being procured for its hospitals and clinics, yet records
indicated that gold was being sold.
Subsequently, PSMAS engaged an external auditor, RBM
Auditors, to carry out a forensic audit covering the period in question.
The audit then unearthed that the accused persons received
and converted all the money realised from the sale of gold to Fidelity Printers
totalling US$702 386.80 to their own use. Herald
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