daniel chigunwePaidamoyo Bore
TWO men have been hauled to court on charges of money laundering and theft of trust property involving US$75 200 belonging to Econet Wireless.
Calisto Chiota, 36, and Hardlife Chenjerai, 37, were denied bail when they appeared before Harare magistrate, Dennis Mangosi, yesterday.
The duo, who denied the allegations, will be back in court tomorrow for their bail ruling.
Allegations are that on July 1, Chiota requested 40 000 litres of diesel for the Econet Masvingo Region.
Chiota worked as a refuelling supervisor at Econet, and it was one of his duties to request for fuel.
The fuel was delivered by Rodrigo Haulage Trucking Company, with Chenjerai as the driver.
The court heard that when the tanker arrived in Masvingo, Chiota told Chenjerai not to offload the fuel at Doczine, instead connived to offload it into another truck.
It is alleged that Chiota updated his records and apprised the head office.
Their luck ran out when Econet conducted fuel allocation reconciliation for July and discovered the shortfall.
In the same matter, the duo is also being accused of money laundering.
The State said Chiota and Chenjerai did not comply with the purported delivery instructions and knowingly converted the 40 000 litres to their own use.
Chiota said he never connived with Chenjerai to offload the fuel into another vehicle.
Chenjerai indicated that he is just a driver and delivers consignments where he is supposed to.
He also stated that he completed his mandate as had been ordered.
Pardon Dziva appeared for the State.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter