Maid steals US$15k from employer

Prosper Dembedza Herald Correspondent

A Harare maid has appeared in court on allegations of stealing US$15 700 from her Chinese boss.

Mushoriwa Otilia (39) was facing theft charges when she appeared before Harare Magistrate Mrs Evelyn Mashavakure who remanded her in custody to tomorrow for bail ruling.

The complainant in this case is Hongzhomg Chen (38) residing in Avonlea, Harare.

It is the State’s case that on December 26, Chen received US$15 000 from his Chinese friends and he placed it in his wardrobe for safe keeping, it is alleged that after some time, Chen checked his money and noticed that the money was missing.

Chen asked Mushoriwa, her maid, about the whereabouts of his money and she denied seeing the money.

It is alleged that Chen checked the money everywhere in the yard and only found it inside Mushoriwa’s handbag which was in the rubbish bin.

The court heard that Chen asked the accused person again, after the recovery of the money and she denied taking the money.

Chen counted the money and it was US$15 700. Mushoriwa is alleged to have also stolen US$700 which was in Chen’s pair of trousers.

In her defence, Mushoriwa stated that the US$700 was her money which she had brought so that she would make her payments in town during lunch hour.

Chen then phoned the police leading to Mushoriwa’s arrest.