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Court Reporter
Mashonaland Turf Club assistant branch manager Aleck Chidyamudungwe has appeared in court for playing clandestine bets, swindling the company of about $8 000 in the process. Chidyamudungwe (33) of number 188 Glen Norah A appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Milton Serima last week facing charges of fraud.
He was ordered to pay $100 bail, not to interfere with investigations and to reside at his given address.
As part of his bail conditions, Chidyamudungwe was also ordered not to visit Mashonaland Turf Club betting halls or premises and to report every Friday at CID Serious Frauds.
The complaint is Mashonaland Turf Club represented by its divisional area manager Mr Andrew Magasa.
The court heard that the company provides sporting betting facilities to the public and later pays out dividends to winners.
The prosecutor Ms Sharon Mashavira alleged that Chidyamudungwe and another manager Anna Munyonda were the custodians of keys to the Turf Club Parkade branch premises.
It is alleged that between November 16 and December 8 last year, Chidyamudungwe went to the Parkade branch after business hours.
He allegedly logged on to the betting machines and played a total of 132 bets amounting to $5 109 before logging off the machines.
Of the 132 betting tickets Chidyamudungwe played, he managed to win $3 863,25, but only encashed $3 088, 75.
It is alleged that Chidyamudungwe used the same modus operandi and won another $4 334.
The offence came to light when an internal audit revealed that daily activities returns were not tallying with those reflecting on the main server.
Investigations exposed Chidyamudungwe, leading to his arrest.
Mashonaland Turf Club lost $8 197,75 and only $774,50 was recovered from betting tickets not encashed.
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