Mr Chiutsi who
was the supervising pharmacist at Hartwell Pharmacy which was trading as
Cliques Pharmacy, was facing 24 counts of theft of trust property and 142
counts of fraud.
He pleaded not
guilty to all the 186 counts when he appeared before regional magistrate, Mr
Noel Mupeiwa, who acquitted him after a full trial.
The State had
alleged that on various dates between 2020 and 2024, Mr Chiutsi manipulated the
quantities of received pharmaceutical drugs in the creation of goods received
vouchers (GRVs) in the computer software system known as Propham.
It was further
alleged that to compensate for the under receiving of the drugs, Mr Chiutsi
manipulated the cost of unit items in such a way that the total cost in the
supplier invoice matches the cost in the GRV.
The State
alleged that by employing this method, he prejudiced the complainants to the
tune of US$15 621,37.
He was further
accused of creating various GRVs purporting to have received various
pharmaceutical suppliers whom the State alleges were non-existent.
The
complainants were alleged to have suffered prejudice of U$284 036,21.
However, in his
ruling, Mr Mupeiwa said the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond
reasonable doubt as Mr Chiutsi cast doubt on the matter by proving that the
system was not temper proof as he was not the only one with access to it.
On one
transaction in which he was accused of manipulating the system, it turned out
that he was out of the country.
“The fourth
witness was the investigating officer one Percy Saunyama. He explained in court
the steps he took in investigations. His evidence was not very helpful to the
State case, save to only show that he even started investigating this matter
about three months before a formal report had been made at Mutare Central
Police Station. He said he was assigned the case in March 2024, but the police
report was only made on June 25, 2024,” said Mr Mupeiwa’s evidence analysis.
Mr Mupeiwa
further said there was probability of truth in Mr Chiutsi’s defence, on all the
counts, warranting the benefit of doubt through acquittal.
“From the
analysis of evidence above, it is clear that the State has not proved beyond
reasonable doubt that the accused is the one who generated the said GRVs. The
evidence is balanced between the accused’s case and that of the State. The
explanation of the accused is probable for all 186 counts. The law dictates
that where there is any reasonable doubt as to the guilty of the accused, the
doubt should be resolved to the benefit of the accused person.
“The failure by
the State to prove that the accused generated the GRVs for count one to 24
means that they failed to prove that he stole either drugs or cash. Similarly,
the State’s failure to prove that the accused made a misrepresentation to
Healthwell Pharmacy, intending to cause Healthwell Pharmacy to act to its
prejudice. Since the State has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable
doubt, the benefit of doubt goes to the accused person in all 186 counts. The
verdict is not guilty and acquitted,” ruled Mr Mupeiwa. Manica Post
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