Employee fakes robbery, vanishes with US$19 000

Lovemore Kadzura
Post Reporter
AUSTRALIAN-BASED businessman, Mr Ngonidzashe Mzila, lost US$19 000 after his Rusape employee, Tinashe Muzarawetu, allegedly fabricated an armed robbery incident and vanished with the cash.
Muzarawetu, who was given power of attorney to sell a plot in Rusape on behalf of his employer, is said to have reported the fake robbery to the police, claiming he was robbed of the money at gunpoint.
Muzarawetu was acting on behalf of his Australian-based employer, Mr Mzila, who had tasked him with selling a 22-hectare plot in Wakefield, Headlands, to a Middle East-based buyer represented by Mr Gerald Manavale.
The plot was being sold for US$25 000, with the transaction facilitated by a Rusape-based agent, Tendayi Mandivheyi.
However, investigations are underway to determine the authenticity of the claim, with police suspecting that Mutamba might have embezzled the funds.
Efforts to get a comment from the national police spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi were unsuccessful, as he repeatedly said he had not received information from his team in Mutare, and was also in meetings.
However, The Manica Post has learnt from a reliable source that after the paperwork was completed with lawyers and Makoni Rural District Council, Muzarawetu was handed US$19 410 in Mandivheyi’s office, and put the cash underneath the back seat of his vehicle.
Muzarawetu allegedly left for Harare, and at around 7pm, reported to the Rusape Tollgate police that he had been attacked by four people driving a double-cab vehicle.
He alleged that one of the attackers, a woman wearing a police uniform, had pointed a gun at him and accused him of being a drug dealer, before taking all the money he had.
The case was handed to CID Rusape for investigation, and alert detectives detected inconsistencies in Muzarawetu’s version, prompting them to summon him to the station for clarification.
They also questioned Mandivheyi and confiscated the duo’s cellphones.
While detectives were questioning Mandivheyi, Muzarawetu slipped away from the police station, leaving his hired vehicle and cellphone behind.
The owner of Yarutso Car Hire was later informed by Muzarawetu, via a private number, that he had reported a fake robbery case and had absconded from the police station.
Muzarawetu allegedly told the vehicle owner that he was now in South Africa, and revealed that he was not alone in the plan to make a false robbery report.