The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa : Court Correspondent
A MUTARE City Council accountant, Tungamirai Paradzai Mupfigo (34) who was facing charges of defrauding the city of $19 000 was on Monday acquitted of the charges.Mupfigo was alleged to have defrauded the municipality of $19 000 after he withdrew the money from the council’s bank accounts and converted it to his own use.
Mupfigo had denied the charges when he appeared before senior Mutare magistrate, Mr Langton Mukwengi.
Mr Chris Ndlovu of Gonese and Ndlovu Legal Practitioners represented Mupfigo, while Mr Matthew Chimutunga prosecuted.
He was being charged with fraud as defined in Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23.
It had been alleged that Mupfigo withdrew cash amounting to $19 091,83 from Mutare City Council’s Kingdom Bank and CBZ Bank accounts and converted it to his own use.
The withdrawals had been signed by the council’s two signatories, then Town Clerk, Mr Obert Muzawazi and the Finance Director, Mr Lloyd Musasa.
“Mupfigo would raise some payment vouchers for payments to clients. He would then instruct the typing pool staff to write cash withdrawal slips which he would take together with the payment vouchers to the Financial Director and Town Clerk for signing.
“The accused went to CBZ and Kingdom banks and withdrew cash which he was supposed to book in the cash disbursement book. He did not book the $19 0000 and failed to account for it when he was approached,” said Mr Chimutunga.
An audit was conducted in late 2013 and it was observed that $34 000 was missing from the council’s bank accounts and according to the witnesses that testified in court, Mupfigo had been co-operating and helping his bosses to locate the missing money.
“The audit picked abnormalities amounting to $34 000, but upon investigations, documents were found and the amount was reduced to the current $19 000 and we are very confident that if proper investigations are done, all the money will be accounted for,” said Mr Ndlovu during the trial.
Mr Mukwengi said there was no evidence that Mupfigo had committed the offence and that it was clear that he was being framed.
