Lomagundi College‘s bursar, Carmelita Doreen Hinze, was Monday taken to court for allegedly diverting funds meant for students’ fees into her personal accounts over a four-year period.
Hinze is facing 234 counts of theft and appeared before Harare Magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa. She was released on free bail and is scheduled to return to court on October 2 for her routine remand.
According to the allegations, from 2017 to 2020, Hinze, who works as an assistant bursar at the school, unlawfully used school fee payments totalling US$236,964, $559,810, and R24,700 for her personal use instead of depositing them as required. Read the court papers:
On the dates shown ( January 2017 to October 2020, the accused received amounts from respective parents as payments of school fees which she was supposed to post in the school relevant system and bank the money with the school bursar.
The accused, unlawfully and with intent to steal, did not bank all the amounts but converted it to her own use in contravention of the Act (Criminal Law and Codification Act.)
The fraudulent activity was discovered after the school conducted a verification process involving parents in January. It was then revealed that Hinze had failed to deposit the funds as instructed. An auditing firm, Mariahill Chartered Accountants, was subsequently hired, and they uncovered 234 instances of theft committed by Hinze.
Source Pindula
