Fugitive wages clerk convicted

Walter Nyamukondiwa Chinhoyi Bureau
Fugitive Chinhoyi Municipality wages clerk Raymond Chifura, who had been on the run since 2010, has been convicted of 28 counts of fraud involving about $10 000.

Chinhoyi magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna sentenced Chifura to an effective 28 months before ordering him to restitute the $10 000 he owes within a month.

Chifura (39) was arrested recently in Harare after five years on the run.

The prosecutor Mr Tinashe Dzvore managed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that sometime in 2010, Chifura included his FBC Bank account number 30401030250126 on the payroll that was presented to the bank for the monthly deposit of workers’ wages.

He went on to receive $7 301,40 in monthly salaries from January 11, 2010 to October 1 2010, which he put to personal use. The State produced two salary schedules that remained in the municipality system while one was presented to the bank bearing the fraudulent information.

On another count, Chifura included his wife Percy Hakunavanhu (36) on the salary schedule that was presented to the bank but was not in the council system.

Hakunavanhu is a co-accused in the matter as she received a monthly salary from the municipality into her savings account number 304010736088, beginning February 6, 2010 to October 1, 2010 when she was employed by the then Ministry of Transport and Energy.

She prejudiced the municipality of $2 942,49. Chifura then fled the country and was reportedly in South Africa until he was arrested in Harare recently.

Investigations by police established that Chifura, as the wages clerk, was supposed to keep the salary schedules but only four out of nine schedules were recovered from the filing system for the second count while only six were recovered for the first count.

For purposes of sentence, the magistrate combined the charges. He sentenced him to 40 months imprisonment before suspending five months on condition that he does not commit a similar offence.

Seven months were set aside on condition that Chifura restitutes Chinhoyi Municipality $10 000.