Two workers employed by the Home Affairs Ministry at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo are in trouble for allegedly defrauding their employer by diverting part of visa fees paid by a British national who had arrived at the airport, to their use.
SILAS NKALA
Elina Moyo (34) of James Court in the city and Gift Mandikutse (30) of Nketa 6, immigration officers at the airport, were not asked to plead to charges when they appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Takundwa Witness Mtetwa on Tuesday.
The magistrate granted them $100 bail each and remanded them to August 8 for trial.
The court heard that on June 17, Moyo and Mandikutse were at work at the airport when they allegedly hatched a plan to defraud the State. They alleged took R550 from Ian French, a British national who had just arrived in Zimbabwe.
They allegedly receipted it in his visa and top copy of the receipt book. They went on to write R300 on the remaining copies of the same serial numbers instead of writing the R550. The two allegedly endorsed French’s visa number 00583836 with the receipt serial number 224656 and an amount of R550 dated June 17 2013.
The cash was receipted and signed by Mandikutse, while the visa copy was issued by Moyo.
The two went on to remove and destroy the fast copy of the visa from the book in order to destroy evidence.
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This was discovered by Nomathemba Tshuma another immigration officer during routine checks.
The State produced copies of the visa receipts in question with different amounts of cash receipted and a passport as evidence.
