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Elizabeth Tsuro Midlands Reporter
A MKOBA Teachers’ College accountant and her assistant were each sentenced to five years in prison following their conviction for defrauding the institution of more than $36,000. Gladys Chinheya Chatikobo, 35, of Mbizo in Kwekwe and her assistant Fine Ruzive, 49, of Mkoba suburb in Gweru, will however serve two and half years in jail each after provincial magistrate Phathekile Msipha conditionally suspended half of the sentences. Msipha said the duo meticulously planned the white collar crime which she said was difficult to detect.

She said if it was not for the tipoff that the college superiors received, Chinheya and Ruzive could have continued stealing from the institution. “Usually the court gives female offenders a lighter sentence but in this case the female offender had a highly active role in committing the crime so I see no reason why I should distinguish your sentence from your counterpart.

“I’m sentencing you to five years imprisonment each, one year of your sentence is suspended on condition that you don’t commit a similar offence involving theft and dishonesty in the next five years and a further year and half is suspended on condition you each restitute the complainant $18,045 before December 31 this year,” she said.

Prosecuting, Ernest Muzembi told the court that on July 7 this year, Mkoba Teachers’ College principal, Florence Dube, noticed a long queue of students at the administration offices paying their fees and collecting their certificates.

He said Dube expected increased revenue for the college at the end of the month. “On August 12, Dube and the finance committee held a meeting where she noted that cash collected during the month of July was low despite the long queue of students she had witnessed paying fees,” said Muzembi.

“On August 14, Dube received information from one of her staff members that Chatikobo and Ruzive were under-receipting the money collected.”

She was then supplied with the names of students who had paid the money that the official suspected was under-receipted. Muzembi said Dube made a follow up and managed to contact 69 students who came to the college with their original receipts and the anomalies were detected.

He said Dube then checked into the accounting system and discovered that Chatikobo connived with Ruzive and created an unprocedural journal voucher module to capture student copy receipts written by Chatikobo instead of using the procedural receipting module. Dube reported the matter to the police leading to the duo’s arrest.