This was
revealed by national police spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi, in Harare
at the weekend.
Comm Nyathi was
addressing delegates at the inaugural H-Metro National Forum On Responsible
Betting conference, which was held at Alex Sports Club in the capital, on
Saturday.
The conference
was a resounding success and attracted a full house of all the major players in
the betting industry in this country.
It was held in
conjunction with the Lotteries and Gaming Board, the principal authority in the
industry, the Government and various arms of this industry, which has been
enjoying phenomenal growth in this country.
The overriding
message from the conference was a call for punters to gamble responsibly to
avoid negative consequences, including being jailed for abusing funds which
belonged to other parties, including employers.
Earlier this
year, William Gonese, 28, who was a shift manager at Baker’s Inn, was jailed
for 10 years after he was convicted for stealing US$3,420 from his employer
which he used to fund his gambling on Kandege.
It is also
known as Aviator and this game has taken the local betting industry by storm.
Gonese said he
also wanted to impress his new bride.
However,
representatives of the betting industry questioned some of these claims and
said some people were using their industry as an excuse when the crimes could
have been committed in other ventures.
They said their
investigations have revealed that many of these people probably never spent a
cent in a betting shop or on any kind of betting.
It is against
the background of such risks that H-Metro organised the conference for all the
parties to come together and discuss this industry.
Comm Nyathi
said police officers in uniform were not allowed to enter betting shops and
gamble.
A number of
pictures have appeared on social media platforms, which show uniformed police
officers in betting shops, including some who appear to be betting on the
counters.
Comm Nyathi
said this did not give a good picture of the country’s police force. Herald
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