Former Nando’s Till Operator Jailed Over US$15,000 Fraud

By Staff Reporter | Gweru

A former Nando’s till operator in Gweru has been sentenced to 40 months in prison after being convicted of defrauding the fast-food outlet of more than US$15,000 through fraudulent point-of-sale transactions.

Cynthia Jongwe, 28, of Jairos Jiri Road in Riverside, Gweru, was convicted of fraud by the Gweru Magistrates’ Court after she allegedly manipulated the restaurant’s payment records to make cash transactions appear as electronic payments. The National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) said Jongwe was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Five months of the sentence were suspended on condition of good behaviour, while a further 24 months were suspended on condition that she restitutes the money stolen from her former employer. The remaining 11 months were suspended on condition that Jongwe performs community service.

The case centred on the manipulation of transactions processed through the restaurant's point-of-sale system. Jongwe was employed as a till operator at Nando’s Gweru when she allegedly received cash from customers but generated receipts indicating that the customers had paid through electronic swipe transactions. A court report published during the prosecution of the case said the purported transactions were reflected through payment platforms including the company’s CBZ Bank terminal, TN CyberTech Bank terminal and InnBucks.

However, the transactions could not subsequently be verified against the relevant banking records. According to the prosecution, the scheme was uncovered during an internal audit of Jongwe’s transactions. The audit team reportedly examined the receipts and transaction records generated during her shifts and found discrepancies between the payments recorded at the restaurant and corresponding deposits or electronic transactions.

The restaurant then approached the relevant financial institutions to establish whether the purported payments had actually been processed. Bank records obtained during the investigation allegedly confirmed that the funds had not been credited to Nando’s Gweru. Investigators subsequently calculated the restaurant’s total financial prejudice at US$15,482.75.

The money had not been recovered at the time of the case. The prosecution alleged that Jongwe’s method involved accepting cash from customers while recording the transactions as if they had been settled electronically. This allowed receipts to be generated showing that customers had paid, while the corresponding funds were never transferred to the restaurant. The case highlights the financial risks businesses face when internal point-of-sale records are not routinely reconciled against bank and payment-platform statements.

POS systems are increasingly central to retail and hospitality businesses, where electronic payments, cash transactions and multiple payment platforms can operate simultaneously. For businesses, discrepancies between till records and actual bank receipts can be an early warning sign of fraud, particularly where employees have access to both customer transactions and payment-processing systems.

Jongwe’s conviction followed the presentation of evidence linking the disputed transactions to the financial records of the restaurant and the relevant payment platforms. The court ultimately imposed a custodial sentence, with part of the term suspended on conditions including restitution and community service. The NPAZ did not indicate in its statement whether the outstanding US$15,482.75 had subsequently been recovered.

The conviction brings the case to a conclusion at magistrates’ court level, subject to any appeal rights available to the accused.

Nando’s Gweru fraud