By BANO CORRESPONDENT
A driver for a beverage company has been taken to court by his employer after allegedly stealing money while distributing Pepsi soft drinks.
According to court documents, the driver was tasked with delivering the drinks and collecting payment from customers, but a portion of the collected funds went missing.
The case has now landed in court, with the driver facing charges of theft of thrust property as defined in Section 133(2) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23.
The complainant in this case is Varun Beverages being represented by Success Mlambo, a male adult aged 37 years residing at number 1855, Tin Crescent Aspindale Park, Harare.
Mlambo is employed as a Loss Control officer contactable on 0776 197 210.
The accused person is Jaricha Resolve, a 27-Year Old male adult residing at number 3328 in Entumbane suburb, Bulawayo.
Resolve is employed by Varun Beverages as a driver and contactable on 0784 942 900.
In a court appearance before Bulawayo Magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe last week Friday, Resolve pleaded guilty to charges of theft.
Facing the prospect of a prison sentence, Resolve chose instead to accept a monetary fine of US$200, with the alternative of three months' incarceration.
However, the court's judgement did not stop there.
In recognition of the harm caused to Varun Beverages, Magistrate Chikwekwe mandated a restitution fee of US$648, payable by May 15. Resolve's next steps now hang on his ability to satisfy this financial obligation.
The wheels of justice turned upon allegations that, on April 10, 2024, Resolve, the driver for Varun Beverages, was assigned a routine distribution task from Harare to Bulawayo.
In the early hours of April 10th, a new day dawned at Varun Beverages. At around 8:00 am, Jaricha Resolve, one of the company's trusted drivers, was handed a significant consignment of Pepsi beverages, 200 bottles of 500 milliliters and 200 bottles of 1000 milliliters, to be distributed throughout Bulawayo's Central Business District (CBD).
The expectation was clear, at the end of his rounds, Resolve was to return to the Varun Beverages premises and hand over the day's takings of US$848.
Armed with a hefty consignment of 200 half-litre bottles and 200 one-litre bottles of Pepsi drinks, Resolve set off to serve customers in the bustling heart of Bulawayo.
The day's haul should have netted the company US$848, but according to the charges, Resolve fell short, turning over a sum far less than the expected amount.
A fateful hour arrived on the same day at approximately 18:00pm, when Resolve appeared before company representatives with only US$200 in his possession.
The stark difference between this sum and the expected US$848 from his day's work raised a red flag, demanding a thorough accounting of the missing funds.
As the driver was probed for an explanation, his responses fell woefully short, leaving Varun Beverages to confront the troubling possibility of theft within their ranks.
The long arm of the law moved swiftly in response to the suspected theft.
Resolve, no longer merely an employee under scrutiny, was taken into police custody following a formal report made by Varun Beverages at the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Donnington station.
A sum of US$200 was successfully recovered, but the remaining US$648 still loomed over the case like a specter of suspicion.
The investigation continued, with all eyes trained on the employee-turned-accused.
