A Gweru till operator who manipulated her employer’s point-of-sale system to create fictitious swipe transactions has been convicted of defrauding Nando’s of US$15,482.75.
Cynthia Jongwe, 28, of Jairos Jiri Road, Riverside, Gweru, was convicted of fraud by the Gweru Magistrates’ Court after prosecutors proved that she generated false transactions purporting that customers had paid through Nando’s Gweru POS machines.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ), Jongwe, who was employed as a till operator at the fast-food outlet, manipulated the POS system to create the fictitious swipe transactions.
“The Court found that the transactions were false and no corresponding funds were credited to the respective POS terminals,” the NPAZ said in a bulletin issued Thursday.
The fraud was uncovered during an internal audit when the company’s audit team scrutinised Jongwe’s swipe transactions and discovered there were no records of the purported payments.
The company then engaged the relevant banks and obtained bank statements which confirmed that the money had never been received by Nando’s Gweru.
“The total financial prejudice suffered by Nando’s Gweru was USD15,482.75 and nothing was recovered,” the NPAZ said.
Jongwe was initially sentenced to 40 months in prison, with five months suspended on condition of good behaviour, 24 months suspended on condition of restitution and the remaining 11 months suspended on condition that she performs community service.
She was ultimately ordered to perform community service as part of the suspended sentence.
The NPAZ said the case demonstrated the consequences of abusing a position of trust and manipulating financial systems to deprive an employer of money.
