Maid Sentenced to Three Years for US$80k Heist
A Harare Magistrates' Court has sentenced 59-year-old Sarah Matemarunda to 34 months in prison for masterminding a coordinated theft of over US$80,000 from her employer.
Delicious Mathuthu 
Harare - A Zimbabwean court has sentenced a 59-year-old domestic worker to 34 months in prison for masterminding a heist that saw more than US$80,000 in various currencies stolen from her employer's residence.
Sarah Matemarunda was convicted by the Harare Magistrates' Court on Thursday following a trial that detailed a coordinated effort to loot a digital metal safe from a suburban home in August 2025.
Magistrates sentenced Matemarunda to 36 months of imprisonment, though two months were suspended on the condition of future good behavior.
The court heard that the complainant had left his home to a farm in Darwendale on August 10, leaving the property under the care of Matemarunda and a gardener, Milton Mudimu.
The following day, Matemarunda contacted the homeowner to report that Mudimu had failed to show up for work, an act prosecutors characterized as a move to deflect suspicion.
Upon his return on August 12, the complainant discovered his bedroom doors forced open and a digital safe containing US$80,400, as well as South African Rands, Chinese Yuan, UAE Dirhams, Indian Rupees and British Pounds, ripped from the wall.
"Police investigations located the safe inside a parked car at the house, and fingerprints were identified on it," the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) stated in a bulletin following the sentencing.
The investigation led to the arrest of Mudimu, the gardener, who was intercepted by authorities while attempting to flee across the border into South Africa.
Court records say Mudimu implicated Matemarunda as the "mastermind" of the operation.
"The accused provided critical information regarding the location of the cash and coordinated with two male accomplices, who remain at large, to remove the safe and distribute the proceeds," the prosecution stated during the proceedings.
Following Matemarunda’s arrest, police recovered a small fraction of the stolen funds hidden in her room, including US$1,239 and various foreign denominations.
"Members of the public are reminded that the law will always catch up with those who engage in criminal acts and violating the trust of their employers," the NPA said.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that the search continues for the two remaining male suspects involved in the physical removal of the safe.
