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Trish Mukwazo,[email protected]
THE court on Thursday further postponed the sentencing of an elderly Bulawayo couple, who went on a spending spree after exploiting a technical glitch at Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe, embezzling over US$30 000.
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.