adminLydia Sibanda (27) and Tafara Gabriel Makombe (26), who both stay in Dulibadzimu Township in the border town, were convicted on their own pleas of guilty to fraud by Beitbridge provincial resident magistrate, Ms Gloria Takundwa.
Sibanda was fined $500 (or 21 days in jail) while Makombe was ordered to pay $300 failure of which he would spend 14 days in prison.
The prosecutor, Mr Jabulani Mberesi said between 6 December last year and 18 September this year, Sibanda and Makombe, whose duties involved issuing out receipts to motorists at a tollgate in Malala, would tamper with serial numbers of receipts.
The two would enter false information into the daily cash register.
The court heard that instead of entering the actual collected amount, the pair would doctor the receipts before entering a lesser amount into the cash register. They would then pocket the difference. In an effort to conceal their scam, Sibanda and Makombe would then go on to write correct information of receipt serial numbers before banking a lesser amount and in the process prejudicing Zimra of a total of $786.
An audit was carried out leading to the discovery of the anomaly, which eventually gave them away. A report was made to the police leading to their arrest and the subsequent recovery of the stolen money.
Meanwhile, a 26 year-old Beitbridge man was fined $20 000 (or 10 months in jail for illegal possession of cigarettes), which he allegedly intended to smuggle into South Africa.
Ms Takundwa convicted Brighton Mugadha, of House Number 2784 Dulibadzimu on his own plea of guilty to possession of goods liable for duty and excise payment.
The cigarettes were forfeited to the State as part of the sentence.
The court heard that on 21 November, police got a tip off that Mugadha was in possession of 378 bricks of Remington Gold cigarettes worth $800.
They raided his house leading to the discovery of the cigarettes. Mugadha failed to produce documents to prove that he had legally acquired the export quality cigarettes leading to his arrest and seizure of the goods.
Online Reporter