BULAWAYO – Almost a year after the audacious armed robbery at Ecobank in Bulawayo, where a staggering US$4.4 million was stolen, the echoes of that crime continue to reverberate. The sheer scale of the heist, the largest in Zimbabwe’s banking history, and recent developments in the investigation are keeping the story very much alive.
In just a few weeks, Zimbabwe will mark the anniversary of that fateful day – October 3rd of last year – when a gang of gunmen stormed the Ecobank branch in Bulawayo’s central business district and made off with the massive US$4.4 million loot.
The arrest of the Vumbunu brothers in South Africa has reignited interest in the case, bringing renewed focus to the events of that day. The image of armed robbers brazenly staging a daylight robbery in a bustling city centre, coupled with the subsequent arrest of a family of brothers with a chequered past, is a narrative that continues to capture the public’s imagination.
It took 130 years of banking history in the City of Kings for a gang of armed robbers to finally hit the biggest jackpot of them all with their US$4,4 million heist on October 3, last year. The first bank to be opened in Bulawayo was Standard Bank of South Africa. which opened its doors on May 4, 1894, and the makeshift branch was just a tent at a police camp.
While the Ecobank heist continues to grip the nation, another financial scandal has emerged, this time involving employees of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA).
On Tuesday, Shupikai Mary Nicola Marongwe, a Database Administrator, and Paradzai Mutasa, a systems developer, appeared before Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa, facing allegations of conniving to defraud ZIMRA of over US$6.3 million.
Prosecutors allege that Marongwe and Mutasa created an account called ZESWASYCUDA with exclusive rights to edit, delete, and update any table in the ASYCUDA database, all as part of a plan to deceive ZIMRA of its revenue.
The duo then allegedly recruited clearing agents across the country, whose pre-payment accounts would be utilised in the scam.
Mutasa is accused of abusing the account by creating fictitious and inflated figures in the clearing agents’ pre-payments accounts, misrepresenting that the agents had deposited a certain amount in ZIMRA bank accounts when, in reality, no such deposits had been made.
As a result of the duo’s conduct, a number of clearing agents imported goods without paying duty.
According to the charges, the clearing agents then gave the duo hard cash, which they converted for personal use, with the clearing agents also getting their share.
Various Bills of Entry were processed by ZIMRA, but the figures reflecting in the clearing agents’ prepayment accounts did not reflect the true value of money deposited.
Prosecutors claim that ZIMRA suffered an actual prejudice of ZIG$171 186 079.41, equivalent to US$6,340,251, as well as a further US$37,200, and nothing was recovered.
Just a few weeks before the country marks the first anniversary of the US$4,4 million Ecobank heist, it is having to deal with the reality that its principal revenue collection authority was scammed of US$6,3 million − this time without a gun being required.
There is need for some context here:
The amount which prosecutors claim ZIMRA lost in this scam is about US$1,9 million more than what was stolen in the biggest bank robbery in the 131-year history of banking in this country − the first commercial bank, Standard Bank, was opened in Harare in 1894.
It is almost equivalent to the R120 million which the Gupta brothers were accused by the South African Revenue Services of duping the organisation in terms of unpaid income taxes.
The value of the ZIMRA loss, though, is lower than the R200 million fraud case which exploded in South Africa after Jeremiah Dube’s wife, Rebecca, tipped off authorities that he was spoiling his girlfriend with a R90,000 allowance from money scammed from SARS.
This alleged fraud at ZIMRA, involving Shupikai Mary Nicola Marongwe and Paradzai Mutasa, serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges Zimbabwe faces in combating financial crime and ensuring the integrity of its revenue collection processes.
However, the focus remains firmly on the Ecobank heist and the pursuit of those responsible. The arrest of the Vumbunu brothers in South Africa represents a significant step forward in the investigation, offering hope that the perpetrators will finally be brought to justice. As the anniversary of the heist approaches, Zimbabweans will be watching closely to see how the case unfolds and whether the stolen millions will ever be recovered. The sight of a group of gunmen staging a robbery in the middle of a bustling city centre, and driving away with a US$4,4 million loot, and a family of brothers with a colourful past being arrested in South Africa, ten months later, has all the ingredients to keep the appeal of the heist alive.
It doesn’t have the same appeal as the sight of two well-dressed people − a man and a woman − casually walking into a court in Harare despite the duo being accused of allegedly stealing more than what the armed robbers stole from the Ecobank heist.
It didn’t even hit the front pages.
The arrest of the Vumbunu brothers in South Africa has brought the focus firmly back on that heist.
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