OK FOODS CASHIER HELD FOR E1.8M THEFT

MANZINI - An employee of  OK Foods who had been tasked with taking care of the store’s funds was arrested for allegedly stealing E1.8 million.

The accused person, Nolwazi Precious Dlamini (28) of Mkhulamini, is alleged to have stolen the money between August 2017 and July 2018.

She was a cashier supervisor before she was fired by the management of the store.
Her charge sheet states that she had been entrusted with receiving cash, preparing deposits, banking and accounting for cash deposited at the bank by management.

Dlamini, who was a custodian of the said funds, would allegedly receive money from different stores, including the one she worked for, which is situated at Mhlaleni.

The other affected OK Foods stores are situated at Kwaluseni, Kancence and Logoba.
She would allegedly receive funds from these stores, prepare deposits and later bank it. Information gathered was that she would go and do the banking on her own and allegedly steal different portions of the amounts each time she was tasked with depositing the funds.

Paperwork

The accused person would allegedly present forged banking paperwork and no one would suspect any foul play.
The offences went on until the store called in auditors, who discovered that a lot of money was missing and was not reflecting in bank statements.
The police were contacted and investigations were conducted.

Dlamini was then called in and statements were recorded.
The Fraud Unit later brought in a report which confirmed that about E1.8 million had been allegedly stolen by the accused person between 2017 and 2018.
Dlamini was arrested while at her home in Mkhulamini and charged with an offence of theft. She made a court appearance on Friday at the Matsapha Circuit Court before Magistrate Mthokozisi Dlamini.

When asked if she would seek legal representation or not, Dlamini told the court she would conduct her own defence. The accused person was advised to move her bail application at the High Court.

Dlamini was remanded in custody until tomorrow pending the setting of her trial date.
Meanwhile, Manzini Fraud Unit Second in Charge, Inspector Goodness Dlamini, in statements submitted in court, raised awareness of possible red flags in companies or stores.

Segregation

The officer advised employers to encourage their employees to take leave for segregation of duties. She said employees who did not go on leave found it easy to manipulate the system and ended up committing offences.

“An employee who never takes annual leave and someone who is busy stealing money, whether with false invoices, company EFTs into their account, or payroll fraud cannot afford to go away, and possibly let someone else check their records or files. The company would not get someone to fill in for them if they are away for a day or two, but if they go away for three weeks, their job would have to be taken over by someone else. They cannot take this risk for fear of being found out,” the officer mentioned.

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