Online Reporter
Trish Mukwazo, [email protected]
A BULAWAYO couple accused of taking advantage of a technical glitch at Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe and allegedly spending over US$30 000 in Zimbabwe and South Africa is set to hear its fate today
Frank Sibanda (65) and his wife, Fransisca Netsai Sibanda (65), of Pelandaba suburb, appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Mrs Dambudzo Malunga facing 47 counts of theft.
The Sibandas have denied the charges, insisting they believed the funds were deposited by their daughter, Rudo Sibanda, who lives in Harare.
The State has since closed its case after calling two witnesses. The couple is currently out on US$500 bail each, with conditions requiring them to surrender their passports, report twice a week at Bulawayo Central Police Station and remain at their registered address.
The prosecutor Mr Owen Mugari told the court that on February 5 last year, Fransisca opened a Silver banking segment account at Stanbic Bank’s Joshua Nkomo Street branch. This was after her daughter, Rudo, falsely declared that her mother was an employee of her company, Cominergy Construction Mining Energy, based in Harare.
Fransisca was issued a Visa chip-and-PIN card (number partially withheld for security reasons) to transact on the account.
The alleged fraud began on April 5, when Fransisca attempted to make a US$17,95 purchase at National Foods Bulawayo using a Steward Bank point of sale (POS) machine. The transaction failed.
As part of standard interbank processes, Steward Bank attempted to reverse the failed transaction through ZimSwitch. However, due to an error, the reversal was processed with an overstated amount of ZWG579 116,21, which was mistakenly auto-converted and credited into Fransisca’s Stanbic US dollar account. This resulted in an unexpected deposit of US$40 850,86.
The alleged fraud came to light after a routine forensic audit by Stanbic Bank uncovered discrepancies in its records, leading to the couple’s arrest.
