Three Ecobank employees appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court on Tuesday on allegations of stealing US$14 000 from the vault.
Michael Nyamutswa, Tserai Nyamandwe and Aswell Chinopopota allegedly tried to hide the missing money by replacing higher denomination notes with lower value notes.
A fourth suspect, Ecobank head teller Munyaradzi Zviripi, is on the run.
Nyamutswa was the customer service manager responsible for guarding the cash vault and also responsible for central cash depot operations in the banking system.
He was Nyamandwe and Chinopopota’s supervisor. The two were employed as bank tellers.
Nyamutswa, Nyamandwe and Chinopopota appeared before magistrate Tafadzwa Miti at the Harare Magistrates Court charged with theft.
They were not asked to plead to the charges and were ordered to pay ZWL$30 000 bail each. They will be back in court on 23 March.
Prosecutor Thomas Chanakira told the court that on 2 December 2021, Ecobank corporate investigations manager Thembekile Ngungu received a report from Nelson Mandela Branch Central Cash Depot about an anomaly at the branch.
The report said a seal for a pack of US$100 notes was found in the vault with no signatures or stamps on its certificate.
Ngungu then launched an investigation and made inquiries which resulted in Nyamutswa ordering Nyamandwe, Chinopopota and Zviripi to recount the cash in the vault.
The duo reportedly found out that there were three bundles that had 80xUS$100 instead of 100xUS$100 and one bundle had US$20 notes instead of US$100 resulting in US$8 000 missing.
Other funds were then found missing. The State alleged that the four, that is, Nyamutswa, Nyamandwe, Chinopopota and Zviripi converted the US$14 000 to their own use.
More: The Herald