THREE Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco) employees who were arrested for allegedly defrauding their employer of over $700 000 were last Friday freed on $10 000 bail each.
Accounts clerks — Vincent Gambiza, Pauline Chinowaita and shipping assistant Norman Kanyimo, who are represented by Arthur Gurira, allegedly used a relative and a friend’s bank accounts to siphon money from the company on the pretext that they were paying service providers.
Harare magistrate Judith Taruvinga ruled that the three were suitable candidates for bail.
It is alleged that between May and the 27th of last month, the three planned to steal from their employer and manipulated invoices that they had received for payment from Cottco service providers by changing banking details.
They allegedly provided alternative account numbers belonging to a friend and a relative, claiming the individuals were the beneficiaries.
The matter came to light on July 23 when the accused presented a Zimbabwe Agricultural Society invoice to finance director Jacqueline Dube, who became suspicious of the transaction.
It was discovered that the accused had acted in a fraudulent manner, resulting in the company reporting them to the police and their subsequent arrest.
Upon their arrest, it was established that the CABS bank account numbers supplied belonged to Tendai Jeche, who is Gambiza’s mother and the other one belonged to Robert Tsoro, Kanyimo’s friend.
Because of their actions, Cottco allegedly lost $745 460.