TWO employees of a local paint company have been arrested for allegedly stealing paint worth US$19 592.
They were yesterday granted US$100 bail each.
Chipo Brinia Mapfumo (32), a branch supervisor at Gazaland in Highfield, Harare and Takudzwa Gorejena (37), a branch manager at Chikwana shopping centre in Chitungwiza, were arraigned before Harare provincial magistrate Isheunesu Matova who remanded them out of custody pending finalisation of investigations.
The two are being accused of manipulating stock records to conceal missing inventory over a four-month period.
Prosecutor Rufaro Chonzi told the court that between September 2024 and January this year, the two allegedly colluded to enter fewer stock items into the company’s sales system than what was collected from the warehouse.
The fraudulent activities came to light when Nelson Tshabalala, the company’s business system manager, discovered stock discrepancies during routine checks at the Gazaland branch.
Following the discovery, the company conducted an audit on January 18 this year which unearthed serious irregularities.
The court heard that the irregularities included missing stock and unaccounted for losses, which were allegedly traced to the time Mapfumo and Gorejena were on duty.
Investigations established that the total financial prejudice to the company was US$19 592 and nothing was recovered.
The company filed a police report leading to the duo’s arrest.
