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Noleen Makhurane Court Reporter
A GWANDA police officer has appeared in court facing three counts of fraud after embezzling almost $3,000 in state funds. Godknows Mpofu 29, pleaded with Magistrate Tinashe Tashaya to grant him bail. Magistrate Tashaya remanded him to May 19. Prosecuting Magret Takawira said Mpofu’s duties included receiving state funds for safe keeping and depositing into a bank account.

He was alleged to have been the sole custodian of the station keys at Gwanda urban police station.

She said Mpofu received $2,040 and R5,600 which he converted to his own use and misrepresented to the officer in charge Chief Inspector Muyambira Muzzah that the receipts he was issued with after depositing the money had been lost. The court heard that Mpofu also altered the dates and amounts paid in a bid to cover up the fraud.

Takawira said Mpofu went to the Gwanda Magistrate Court account department and lied that he had lost some monies and charge sheets and the department assisted him with the old charge sheets and receipts.

“Mpofu misrepresented the charge sheets as genuine to Magistrate Arafat Kozanai who stamped and signed them before he pasted them on a Z69 (J) book to cover the records of the money he had converted to his own use,” said Takawira.

She said Constable Takarova Wellington who was doing routine administration checks discovered the anomalies. The police officer’s troubles started when it was discovered that he received $80 for the state and converted it to his own use and a receipt number he provided was discovered to have been a deposit form from another area.

Nothing was recovered.