Accounts Clerk in Court for US$2k Ghost Worker Sca...

Accounts Clerk in Court for US$2k Ghost Worker Scam

Munyaradzi Mashiri- Court Correspondent

A 28-year-old accounts clerk has been dragged to court for allegedly adding two ghost employees to the payroll of Trust Me Security Private Limited, resulting in a US$2,500 loss.

Ronnie Shavi of Southlands appeared before magistrate Ruth Moyo at the Harare Magistrates' Courts facing fraud charges.

He was granted bail of US$100 and is set to return to court on August 22, 2025.

The complainant in the case is Trust Me Security Private Limited, where Shavi has been employed as an accounts clerk since January 2024.

His responsibilities included making payments to employees and suppliers, and preparing monthly salary schedules.

According to prosecutor Takudzwa Jambawu, on July 28, Shavi compiled the monthly salary schedule and submitted it to the company’s finance manager for processing. The schedule was later sent to the Quality Management System department for verification, where officials detected anomalies.

The QMS team discovered that Shavi had added two former employees—Blessing Mhande and Bridget Jele—back onto the salary schedule, despite both no longer being with the company.

Further internal investigations revealed that Jele had been receiving salaries from January to July 2025, while Mhande was paid from December 2024 to July 2025.

A police report was filed on July 30. The company lost US$2,500 due to the fraudulent payments. Nothing has been recovered.