Frank Sibanda
and his wife, Francisca Netsai, both aged 65 years, took advantage of Stanbic
Bank’s technical glitch and squandered funds that were deposited into the
latter’s account by going on a shopping spree in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The couple was
convicted of 47 counts of theft by Bulawayo Regional magistrate Mrs Dambudzo
Malunga on Wednesday. They were remanded in custody to March 17 for sentence.
In mitigation,
through their lawyer, Mr Jabulani Ndubiwa of Mashayamombe & Co. Attorneys,
the Sibandas pleaded for leniency, saying they were primary caregivers to their
grandchild.
Mr Ndubiwa said
Francisca is of ill-health.
“In considering
the appropriate sentence, may the court consider passing a sentence that spares
the accused hardship and a lengthy custody,” the lawyer submitted.
The incident
came to light after a routine investigation by the bank’s forensic department,
which uncovered discrepancies in the bank’s records, leading to the couple’s
arrest.
The prosecutor
Mr Owen Mugari, told the court that on February 5 last year, Francisca opened a
Silver Banking segment account at Stanbic Bank’s Joshua Nkomo Street branch in
Bulawayo, after her daughter, Rudo Sibanda, falsely claimed that her mother
worked for her Harare-based company, Cominergy Construction Mining Energy.
“The first
accused was then issued with a chip and PIN visa card, number 40691XXXX0711, to
transact on her account. On April 5, Francisca made a POS purchase of US$17,95
via a Steward Bank ZiG POS machine at National Foods Bulawayo, and the
transaction failed,” said Mr Mugari.
As part of the
normal interbank failed POS transaction settlement, Steward Bank processed the
reversal through ZimSwitch with an overstated ZWG amount of 579 116,21, which
was mistakenly auto-credited to Francisca’s US dollar account, resulting in
US$40 850,86 being deposited.
The court heard
that after receiving the funds, the Sibandas embarked on a spending spree
locally and in South Africa, including visits to lavish food and beverage
markets in the upmarket Sandton suburb.
The couple
visited Maboneng Precinct in Johannesburg, a popular hub with a mix of
restaurants, coffee shops, clothing boutiques, art galleries, retail outlets
and studios.
The offence was
later discovered by the bank, which established that between April 30 and May 1
last year, Francisca’s visa card made cash withdrawals of US$2 025 at Stanbic
Bank in Bulawayo and several ATM and POS transactions amounting to US$32 085,47
in South Africa.
A report was
made to the police, and investigations led to the couple’s arrest. The total
amount stolen is US$34 110,47, and nothing was recovered. Chronicle
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