Online Reporter
THERE are gamblers who lose their own money and quietly lick their wounds.
Then there are those who decide that risking their own cash is not adventurous enough, so they graduate to gambling with money that belongs to someone else.
History, however, has been remarkably consistent on how such experiments end.
Peter Muza, a 40-year-old cashier at Metro Hypermarket in Bindura, appears to have convinced himself that the popular virtual betting game Aviator (popularly known as kandege) was not just a game of chance but a reliable investment strategy capable of multiplying thousands of United States dollars overnight. The only problem was that the money he entrusted to this high-risk “investment portfolio” did not belong to him.
Instead, it belonged to his employer.
Between August 8 and August 29 last year, Muza, whose job required the highest levels of trust and accountability, transformed himself from custodian of company funds into financier of the ever-hungry virtual aircraft that has swallowed countless dreams and emptied even more wallets.
As the supermarket’s cashier, Muza’s responsibilities were straightforward.
He collected cash from till operators, reconciled the daily takings, reported any shortages and ensured that every cent collected found its way to the bank through Cash 24 Security Company. It was a system built on trust.
Unfortunately, trust and temptation often make uncomfortable bedfellows.
Instead of banking all the money entrusted to him, Muza allegedly developed his own accounting model. He banked only part of the cash while keeping the rest for his betting escapades. To ensure no one immediately noticed, he reportedly falsified the daily cash sheets, inflating the figures to create the illusion that every dollar had been safely deposited.
For nearly three weeks, the scheme appeared to work. Perhaps each Aviator round promised that the next flight would soar high enough to replace every missing dollar before anyone noticed.
Anyone familiar with the game knows that this is precisely the illusion that keeps many players glued to their screens long after logic has packed up and gone home.
Unfortunately for Muza, auditors do not rely on luck. On August 31, a routine cash audit brought the fantasy crashing back to earth.
Auditors compared the banking receipts issued by Cash 24 Security Company with the daily cash sheets submitted by the cashier.
The figures stubbornly refused to reconcile.
The receipts showed that significantly less money had reached the bank than what company records claimed had been collected.
The investigation quickly established a staggering US$49 437 shortfall.
Whatever flights Aviator had promised, none landed carrying the missing money.
The matter found its way before the Bindura Magistrates’ Court, where Muza was convicted of theft of trust property.
