adminTendai Gukutikwa
AN accountant with Mutare City Council was on Tuesday arraigned before the courts on allegations of defrauding the municipality of $19 000 which he withdrew from the local authority’s bank accounts and converted to own use. Tungamirai Paradzai Mupfigo (34) denied the charges when he appeared before Mrs Lucie-Anne Mungwari. Mr Chris Ndlovu of Gonese and Ndlovu Legal Practitioners represented Mupfigo, while Mr Fletcher Karombe prosecuted.
Allegations were that Mupfigo withdrew cash amounting to $19 091,83 from Mutare City Council’s Kingdom Bank and CBZ bank accounts and allegedly converted it to his own use. “Mupfigo would raise some payment vouchers for payments to clients. He would then instruct the typing pool staff to write cash withdrawal slips which he would take together with the payment vouchers to the financial director and town clerk for signing.
“The accused went CBZ and Kingdom banks and withdrew cash which he was supposed to book in the cash disbursement book. He did not book the 19 0000 and failed to account for it when he was approached,” said Mr Karombe.
Mr Ndlovu told the court that his client was suitable for bail. He said an audit was conducted in late 2013 and its was observed that $34 000 was missing from the council’s bank accounts and his client has been cooperating and helping his bosses to locate the missing money.
“The audit picked abnormalities amounting to $34 000 but upon investigations, documents were found and the moment was reduced to the current $19 000 and we are very confident that if proper investigations are done, all the money will be accounted for,” said Mr Ndlovu. Mupfigo was granted $300 bail with reporting conditions. The case continues on December 1, 2015.
Online Reporter