Ex-finance manager up for $53 million fraud
Blessing Masakadza
A former finance manager at a stock broking firm Morgan & Co has found himself in court accused of swindling the organisation of $53 million.
Kudakwashe Vukomba allegedly siphoned the money on the guise of settling accounts with ZIMRA and other stakeholders such as Zimdef yet the money was being transferred to his personal bank account and to his friends
He was not asked to plead to fraud allegations when he appeared before Harare magistrate Denis Mangosi.
Represented by Tatenda Ndhlovu and Rodwell Chatsama of Chatsama and Partners, Vukomba was granted $500 000 bail and he will be back in court on May 8.
It is the State’s case that in February this year, Morgan & Co received an email from Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe to the effect that that they were in arrears.
This prompted the company to send some proof of payments to the Commission showing that they were paying and cannot be in arrears.
The Securities and Exchange Commission then dishonored such proof of payments on grounds that the ZB Bank account number on the proof of payments did not belong to them.
The court heard that Morgan & Co made internal investigations and discovered that the ZB account numbers on all proof of payments did not belong to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe instead they belonged to Vukomba, Theophilus Mapfurira, Rutendo Choruwa and Prince Mupangavanhu and they reported to the police.
Claims are that initial investigations established that between February 28 2022 to November 25 and on various oyher occasions, Vukomba raised requisition invoices on the guise of making payments to ZIMRA, NSSA, ZIMDEF and Security Exchange Commission.
It is alleged he would take the requisition invoices to the authorised signatories where they were signed.
Allegations are the he would further transfer money signed for to individual bank accounts belonging to his friends and also his personal account.
He allegedly transferred a total of $13 080 430.93 to his personal ZB account, $10 641 858. 83 to Prince Mupangavanhu ZB account, $26 059 918.41 to Rutendo Choruwa and $1 889 979.86 to Theophilus Mapfurira resulting in the firm losing $53 129 574.70.
