By Judith Nyuke
The collapse of a $69 million theft case, rooted in an alleged NMB Bank error, has drawn sharp criticism from a Regional Court regarding the “untidy” handling of the investigation by police and prosecutors.
This comes after the acquittal of Itai Mazambani, who faced charges of theft and money laundering. He was accused of siphoning funds to purchase foreign currency on the black market before being cleared of all charges.
Mazambani pleaded not guilty through his lawyer, Admire Rubaya.
Presiding Chief Magistrate Vongai Guwuriro questioned the integrity of the bank officials involved, noting the suspicious timing of their resignations immediately after the erroneous transaction came to light.
In a scathing assessment of the State’s evidence, the court remarked that the prosecution had abandoned its duty by expecting the court to resolve investigative gaps.
The State’s case rested on the claim that Mazambani converted $69 006 224.03 for his own use after the sum was erroneously transferred to his NMB Bank account during a three-day period in 2022.
Prosecutors claimed the stolen millions were funneled into multiple accounts to facilitate illegal foreign currency trades.
Defending himself, Mazambani denied any role in the transfers, asserting that his account was compromised by bank staff.
He pointed to a specific blunder by employee Lyn Charlie, which he claims was ignored by her superior, Mr. Ndhlumbi.
“The alleged error was noticed five days later, an indication the bank lacked strong internal systems. The bank statements relied on lacked certification,” Rubaya argued.
The court ruled that the State had failed to compile a thorough body of evidence, citing a significant evidentiary gap.
Chief Magistrate Guwuriro specifically pointed to the prosecution’s dependence on the testimony of two money changers, ruling that their claims were insufficient to link Mazambani to the alleged crimes.
“They claimed they visited the accused to give him the US dollars but the state was challenged to prove evidence such as gate book or CCTV but there was none.”
The State also claimed Mazambani used some of the money to pay fees for his alleged child because of a similar surname learning in Manicaland. This was challenged by the defence arguing that there was no proof that the child in question was his and nothing had been put forward to prove it.
“The State was a bit untidy in terms of gathering evidence in this case. Surely there was nothing stopping them from obtaining the birth certificate of the pupils whose fees were paid for a complete story to be established.”
The court raised questions over the genuineness of the errors by the bank officials which led to the huge amount of money to be deposited into Mazambani’s bank account.
The court also indicated that there was no proof that Mazambani was the one behind the alleged transactions to money changers.
“I have doubt in my mind as to what exactly transpired in the matter that warrants criminal liability on the part of the accused. Fundamentally, the State also failed to convince the court that the alleged errors by Lyn Charlie and Kudzanai Ndlumbi were genuine, and that Lyn Charlie communicated with the accused.
The doubt in the mind of the court benefits the accused since a criminal conviction is beyond a reasonable doubt.
“The state also did not prove that it was the accused doing the bank’s inquiries, and there was no production of the alleged MAC addresses, the IP address or IMEI number confirming that the accused was the person behind the gadget.”
