Michael Smith faces court hearings again for allegedly cheating Mr Cruiser's car company out of $38,000 US dollars plus R124,000 South African rand. The government recently brought forward two important witnesses against him. Smith stands accused of stealing trust property twice, committing fraud twelve times, and hiding twenty-five transactions from his boss, Michael Scott Asher. Mrs Ethel Chichera presides as the Harare magistrate for this case.
Sophia Mupariwa took the stand first. She worked under Smith at MA Auto Suppliers as a customer service advisor. Her job included helping customers, booking vehicles, checking cars, and creating price quotes, among other duties. Mupariwa testified that Smith ran daily operations as director from 2020 through 2022. During that time, the company fixed several cars belonging to Smith, his relatives, and his friends.
She claimed Smith often told staff to release these vehicles without collecting full payment. Sometimes he accepted partial payment despite the company already providing parts and labor for repairs. One customer with a Land Cruiser 100 Series should have paid $1,680 for seat covers but only gave $850, causing an $830 loss. Another example involved Smith bringing his son's Prado J95 for repairs costing $1,378.46 but paying just $600, leaving $778.46 unpaid.
The second witness, Christine Vellah, manages finances and administration at MA Auto Suppliers. She explained her responsibilities include keeping financial records and ensuring money matters follow proper rules. According to her testimony, Smith controlled company cash and gave her incomplete payment information, making account reconciliation difficult. Vellah revealed concerning practices involving Mant Procurement, a company where Smith held half ownership.
This company allegedly drained money from MA Auto Suppliers without giving real services back. She mentioned how independent runners charged only 15 percent for transportation services, but Smith raised these costs much higher. He supposedly hid invoices to justify these increased charges, causing losses over R100,000. Vellah described several fraud instances during her testimony.
On November 9, 2020, Smith borrowed $10,000 from Cruiser Bond without telling Vellah. The company later repaid this entire amount, but there is no record showing how Smith used the money. When a Toyota Land Cruiser 78 series sold for $13,000, only $5,000 went into company accounts. Smith allegedly kept the remaining $8,000 for himself. He also reportedly took company chairs valued at R4,786 plus a 95-liter refrigerator without paying anything.
Vellah mentioned another incident where Smith instructed her to pay ZW$295,200 for fees related to a boat they operated together. The company should have paid only ZW$88,250. Smith needed to cover the rest but never did. Prosecutor Chirenje presented documents as evidence, including cash records, invoices, emails, and bank statements that point to Smith's guilt, mainly for counts 1 through 14.
Defense lawyer Takudzwa Nyambira objected, arguing some schedules discussed by witnesses appeared disorganized. He claimed he lacked certain schedules referenced during testimony. However, Chirenje responded that organizing documents wasn't the government's responsibility since he had already provided everything to the defense. Nyambira then agreed to let these documents enter the official record. The trial continued yesterday with more testimony from Vellah. Cross-examination by the defense will happen on March 25.
Sophia Mupariwa took the stand first. She worked under Smith at MA Auto Suppliers as a customer service advisor. Her job included helping customers, booking vehicles, checking cars, and creating price quotes, among other duties. Mupariwa testified that Smith ran daily operations as director from 2020 through 2022. During that time, the company fixed several cars belonging to Smith, his relatives, and his friends.
She claimed Smith often told staff to release these vehicles without collecting full payment. Sometimes he accepted partial payment despite the company already providing parts and labor for repairs. One customer with a Land Cruiser 100 Series should have paid $1,680 for seat covers but only gave $850, causing an $830 loss. Another example involved Smith bringing his son's Prado J95 for repairs costing $1,378.46 but paying just $600, leaving $778.46 unpaid.
The second witness, Christine Vellah, manages finances and administration at MA Auto Suppliers. She explained her responsibilities include keeping financial records and ensuring money matters follow proper rules. According to her testimony, Smith controlled company cash and gave her incomplete payment information, making account reconciliation difficult. Vellah revealed concerning practices involving Mant Procurement, a company where Smith held half ownership.
This company allegedly drained money from MA Auto Suppliers without giving real services back. She mentioned how independent runners charged only 15 percent for transportation services, but Smith raised these costs much higher. He supposedly hid invoices to justify these increased charges, causing losses over R100,000. Vellah described several fraud instances during her testimony.
On November 9, 2020, Smith borrowed $10,000 from Cruiser Bond without telling Vellah. The company later repaid this entire amount, but there is no record showing how Smith used the money. When a Toyota Land Cruiser 78 series sold for $13,000, only $5,000 went into company accounts. Smith allegedly kept the remaining $8,000 for himself. He also reportedly took company chairs valued at R4,786 plus a 95-liter refrigerator without paying anything.
Vellah mentioned another incident where Smith instructed her to pay ZW$295,200 for fees related to a boat they operated together. The company should have paid only ZW$88,250. Smith needed to cover the rest but never did. Prosecutor Chirenje presented documents as evidence, including cash records, invoices, emails, and bank statements that point to Smith's guilt, mainly for counts 1 through 14.
Defense lawyer Takudzwa Nyambira objected, arguing some schedules discussed by witnesses appeared disorganized. He claimed he lacked certain schedules referenced during testimony. However, Chirenje responded that organizing documents wasn't the government's responsibility since he had already provided everything to the defense. Nyambira then agreed to let these documents enter the official record. The trial continued yesterday with more testimony from Vellah. Cross-examination by the defense will happen on March 25.
