Tanzanian Association Oslo

Local banks hit by new

sophisticated theft racket

THISDAY REPORTER 
Dar es Salaam

LOCAL commercial banks are facing a new wave of sophisticated thefts through electronic money transfers, with senior bank officials now pressing the authorities to come down harder on suspects once they are caught. 

The thefts are believed to involve both rogue bank employees and unscrupulous customers, most of the time working in tandem. 

According to THISDAY findings, although a number of local banks have already fallen victim to such thefts, so far only Barclays Bank Tanzania Limited has brought its suspected culprits to court. 

The bank lost a whopping $1.08m (approx. 1.3bn/-) last October. 

Sources say the police is presently investigating a number of other cases which point towards the presence of an organized syndicate behind the thefts. 

’’It’s serious because although local banks have so far braved the global economic meltdown, this new wave is posing more problems which could cause the whole financial sector to collapse,’’ a source close to the investigations said. 

Those arraigned in court last November over the Barclays Bank theft include Winford Mwang´onda (34), rental manager; Shubira Mutungi (24), central service manager; Neema James Saria (26), clerk; Upendo Mushi (30), corporate manager; and Magreth Longway, clerk; all employees of the bank. 

Also charged alongside them was Emanuel Mukono, described as a local businessman. Another businessman, Merey Ali Saleh, and one Abdallah were also joined to the list of accused in the case, appearing briefly before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court earlier this month and granted bail. 

They all face charges of conspiring to defraud the bank of $1,081,263 through forged SWIFT messages which were falsely sent to Kigamboni Oil Company Limited, where Saleh and Abdallah are senior executives. 

The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Robert Manumba, recently warned local banks against the new trend of sophisticated thievery through the electronic transfer money payment system. 

He said the police are investigating possible ring leaders behind the racket. 

’’I have personally cautioned bank executives that this sophisticated crime involves computer networks where huge sums of money can be transferred from one account to another in the shortest possible time, without detection,’’ DCI Manumba told a news conference in Dar es Salaam. 

Bankers now want the police and courts to detain culprits for longer periods of time, arguing that releasing them on feeble bail conditions only provides a recipe for them to organize more such thefts.