The ManicaPost
Senior Reporter
COLCOM Foods Mutare branch depot reportedly lost $13 million through an inside under-invoicing scandal involving four workers who have since been arrested on fraud charges.
Mutare Criminal Investigations Department (CID) spokesperson, Detective Sergeant Coleen Mbato, confirmed the arrest of three cashiers and a salesman who are set to appear in court today (Friday) facing multiple counts of fraud.
Aaron Manyere (30), Collins Mutare (32), Noreen Bvuma (35) and Tinashe Ndere (29)allegedly contravened Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23.
It is alleged that on June 10, Mr Rodney Mukarati, a Colcom Foods Mutare branch manager, had a query on some products’ gross profit basing on the branch’s weekly sales report.
He informed the company’s business solution analyst, Mr Nhlanhla Sigogo, who is based in Harare.
During the course of investigations, Mr Sigogo managed to retrieve a receipt number 537686 raised by Manyere which showed that six Colcom Foods products weighing a total of 267 kilogrammes with a selling price of $172 067.73 had been sold for only $2 860.97, leaving a variance of $169 206.76 in a single transaction.
Mr Sigogo also made an analysis in the meat matrix computer system and discovered that Manyere misrepresented to Colcom Foods that the products had been sold to a debtor account, Manica Produce,when it was actually a cash sale.
Manyere allegedly did this for the computer system to allow the under charge so that he could convert the difference to personal use.
Mr Sigogo then checked in the computer system from 2020 to date and discovered that the three other suspects had employed the same modus operandi to defraud the company as from April 2020.
In all the fraudulent transactions, the suspects used Manica Produce’s dormant account, save for one transaction done by Mutare dated July 5, 2021 in which he used the Colcom service promo account which is only used for donating products at the cost price.
“So far, total value defrauded is $13 230 635.74 and nothing has been recovered.
“Detectives went to Colcom Foods Mutare branch and obtained printouts of all the transactions done by the accused persons to manipulate the selling prices, thereby leading to the arrest of the suspects,” said Det Sgt Mbato.
