Online Reporter
Zvikomborero Parafini-Court Reporter
A NATIONAL Foods Workington Branch weighbridge attendant was dragged to court yesterday after he allegedly duped the company of over US$9 000.
Simon Kuyezesa (53) was not asked to plead when he appeared before Harare magistrate Tapiwa Kuhudzai.
National Foods is being represented in court by its loss control manager Claudius Chitongo.
Allegations are that on July 31, Kuyezesa decided to steal from his employer and during the course of his work, he received a truck being driven by Bernard Soko who is still at large.
The truck was carrying wheat that had been imported by National Foods from Russia.
Kuyezesa allegedly then weighed the truck using the weighbridge machine and produced a ticket purporting that the truck had a maximum weight of 47 460kg.
The offence came to light when the Closed-Circuit Television monitor supervisor Gift Ruzvidzo, during a routine verification of the wheat receipt, played back the camera and observed that truck being driven by Bernard Soko had a maximum weight of 35 400kg, instead of 47 460kg.
Kuyezesa allegedly inflated the weight of the wheat by 12 060kg, well knowing that the shortfall of the wheat had already been stolen in transit by Bernard Soko.
To cover up for the offence, he printed the same information of truck number AGB 3635 and trailer number AGQ6484 that was weighed before Bernard Soko’s truck.
As a result of Kuyezesa’s actions, National Foods suffered an actual prejudice of US$4 811 being the value of shortfall of wheat amounting to 12 060kg, and nothing was recovered.
Using the same modus operandi, Kuyezesa inflated wheat that was in a truck being driven by Anyway Fenyere who is still at large.
The company lost wheat worth US$5 083.
