Arenel employee nabbed for theft of trust property

Mashudu Mambo

A 34-YEAR-OLD employee from Arenel Private Limited in Bulawayo has appeared in court facing a charge of theft after allegedly stealing raw materials worth US$237  096.

Evans Tasara Gwemende appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Collet Ncube facing a charge of theft. He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was remanded out of custody to 14 February for continuation of trial.

During the trial, an auditor Cornelius Mabuya said that they were assigned to conduct an audit at the company.

“We conducted an audit of the stocks of raw materials and packaging materials. We found some stock items that had variances from what the system was saying.

“There were other stock items with positive variances and the total value of the variances was US$237 058,” said Mabuya.

Allegations against Gwemende are that on a date unknown to the prosecutor during a period from January 2020 to 10 December 2023, at Arenel Private Limited in Belmont,  

Gwemende held trust property of raw materials.

Gwemende then omitted to account or accounted incorrectly for the stock worth US$237 096.

The matter came to light when an audit was conducted at the company.

The matter was reported to the police and investigations were carried out leading to the arrest of Gwemende.