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Fungai Jachi Court Reporter
Boka Tobacco Floors (Pvt) Limited lost $24 000 to three of its employees in a farmers grower’s number scandal.
The trio, in connivance with a Curverid Tobacco Company employee, allegedly used unsuspecting farmers’ grower numbers to sell non-existent tobacco to the firm.
Milton Nyauchi (30), Brighton Bande (28) and Lovemore Makarichi (26) appeared before Mbare magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma charged with fraud.
The trio is facing three counts of fraud and denied the allegations.
Ms Tshuma remanded them to June 29 for their trial.
The prosecutor Ms Mirirai Mavema, alleged that on May 3 this year, Lanoliam Gondo, who is still at large, phoned Jonathan Muparadzi requesting a grower’s number.
Gondo allegedly told Muparadzi that he intended to sell tobacco bales and Muparadzi gave Gondo the grower’s number.
The court heard that Nyauchi originated seven tickets misrepresenting that 15 tobacco bales had been bought from Muparadzi.
It is alleged that the accused persons then fraudulently classified the tickets for the fictitious tobacco bales and endorsed the process well knowing that nothing had been brought into the auction floors.
Bande allegedly took the tickets to data capturing for payment and was paid $3 632.
In the second and third count the trio called Paul Chaanoda and Muzondiwa Chikwape and asked to use their growers’ numbers.
The court heard that the trio tricked the two farmers as they did in the first count and misrepresented to Boka Tobocco Floors that Chaanoda and Chikwape had sold tobacco to the company.
It is alleged that the trio was paid $7 706 in the second count and $6 188 in the third count.
The trio is also jointly charged with Delaney Chiku (30) in another fraud case involving $6 779.
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