A 36-year-old Chinese manager at the Max Beef company was sentenced to three years in prison and hard labor in order to prevent other employees from stealing.
Ruan Chenglan’s punishment was necessary, according to Lusaka Magistrate Judith Chiyayika, because the number of instances of employees stealing from their employers is on the rise.
It was disappointing, according to Magistrate Chiyayika, that the stolen money was never found.
“I have taken note that the offense committed is actually on the increase, there are so many workers that are stealing from their employers.
“Therefore, there is need to deter would be offenders, I also note that nothing was recovered from this case, I will, thereby, sentence you to three years imprisonment with hard labour,” the court ordered.
Ruan already admitted to stealing from a client between January 1, 2022, and February 33 of this year.
According to information presented by public prosecutor Frank Kachingwe, the convict was given access to money between the relevant times after business hours.
Moreover, Ruan was supposed to collect money from clients and send it on, but he never did.
According to testimony given in court, the defendant took various sums of money from customers and the business’ accounts department on various days.
Ruan claimed Jianbin Ye, the company director, had given him the task to collect the money, but this was a lie.
On December 24, 2022, Mr. Jianbin, who had asked Ruan to handle the company’s general operations, departed Zambia for China on a personal mission.
But Mr. Jianbin then learned that K1, 008,457 went missing after returning to Zambia.
When Ruan was asked about the missing money during an interview, she instantly expressed her regret and pledged to pay it back as soon as possible.
The prisoner left on the following day for an unidentified location, but was later found by authorities.
Ruan begged the court not to impose a jail term after the magistrate found him guilty of the allegation because “my family is in China”.
Also, he was terrified of the surroundings of Chimbokaila, also known as Lusaka Central Correctional Prison.
“I cannot manage to stay in Chimbokaila. There are no beds in prison. The condition is uncomfortable. Anyways, this is my life now”.
