Story by Fungai Jachi
The trio of Primrose Mwangi, Gerald Pondai and Prosper Hove, who allegedly hacked into ZIMDEF’s bank accounts and siphoned 120 million Zimbabwe dollars was denied bail by a Harare court this Tuesday, with the magistrate noting that the three cannot be trusted with their freedom pending trial.
In his ruling, the presiding magistrate noted that the three were a flight risk hence granting them bail will not be in the interest of justice.
They were remanded in custody to the 23rd of this month for routine remand.
Allegations are that the accused instructed banks to move substantial quantities of money to their own accounts using ZIMDEF’s authorisation codes.
Only 30 000 of the 120 million Zimbabwe dollars has been recovered so far after one of the transactions was cancelled by the National Building Society.
A whistle-blower detailed the deception in an email to ZIMDEF, which led to the discovery of the trio’s criminal enterprise.
Mwangi, who is a Kenyan national is also accused of breaking the terms of her visitor’s entry certificate, which only allowed her to stay as a tourist for one month between December 14 and January 14.
Meanwhile, a police officer, Loveridge Dzimwasha and his 10 alleged accomplices, appeared in court this Tuesday on charges of robbery and were denied bail.
It is alleged that the gang pounced on truckers who transported groceries and used the same modus operandi to commit more crimes where they would pretend to ask for help from the truck drivers before pouncing on them.
The 11 suspected robbers are facing six counts of robbery and they were remanded in custody.
