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Yeukai Karengezeka
Herald Correspondent
A finance manager at the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) appeared in court yesterday for allegedly defrauding the organisation of US$77 000 by faking payments to suppliers.
Taurai Simango (48) was asked not to plead when he appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Evelyn Mashavakure charged with fraud.
He was granted $150 000 bail and was ordered to report once every Friday at the CID offices, not to interfere with witnesses, and to continue residing at the given address. The matter was remanded to May 4 pending finalisation of investigations.
The complainant in the matter is EFZ represented by its general secretary Mr Trever Masuku.
The EFZ is the umbrella body for Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches in Zimbabwe and as such, they receive cash subscriptions, offerings, and donations from donors and corporates.
The State led by Mr Zebediah Bofu alleged that between January 30, 2020, to September 2021, Simango on different occasions misrepresented to the church that he had paid cash to different suppliers yet in actual fact he had not paid anything. To cover up his offence, Simango originated fake receipts purporting that he had obtained them from suppliers as proof of payment and tendered the receipts to the ministry.
Amongst key duties Simango was executing included overseeing the finance department, advising management of financial issues, producing financial documents to the management, overall management of financial resources, and being the liaison between donor partners and the organisation.
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