Senior official dips into ministry coffers

A senior executive assistant director in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has been dragged to court by her employer for allegedly defrauding the ministry of $2 000.

Gloriet Chigaramasimbe is employed by the ministry as a senior executive assistant director of mining promotions and development.

Chigaramasimbe is facing allegations of issuing a fake receipt for an export permit to Pangolin Mines and Minerals.

She appeared before Ms Rumbidzai Mugwagwa yesterday facing charges of fraud and was remanded to February 24.

She was granted $50 bail and was ordered to continue residing at her current residential address and to report to the Criminal Investigations Department commissioner of crime every Friday.

Prosecuting, Mr Peter Kachirika alleged that on December 21 last year, Chigaramasimbe received $2 000 from Pangolin Mines and Minerals for an export permit.

It is alleged that she issued a fake receipt to the company.

It is the State's case that Chigaramasimbe further caused the issuance of a genuine export permit number 7171315 on the strength of the fake receipt.

The offence came to light when the ministry instituted a special audit on the processing of export permits.

It is alleged that the audit discovered that the receipt issued by Chigaramasimbe was from a counterfeit book which was never issued by the ministry and neither was it printed by Government Printers.