MRA anti-smuggling squad foils K500m bank robbery

Barely a week after Malawi President Peter Mutharika declared war on crime, robbers on Wednesday evening stole about K500 million (about $1.3m) cash from Standard Bank Mzuzu Branch located about 300 metres from Northern Region Police Headquarters.

Northern Region Police spokesperson Maurice Chapola said the money was recovered the same night at Jenda in Mzimba, in an abandoned Toyota Ipsum vehicle with the bank’s logo. However, the amount recovered was yet to be confirmed.

He said the robbers disguised themselves as employees of the bank from its head office in Lilongwe.

Said Chapola: “Between 6 and 7pm on Wednesday evening robbers donning executive suits visited the bank’s Asset and ATM custodian Charles Moffat’s home in Chibanja Township telling his children to inform him that they were bank officials from the head office.”

He said the men told Moffat at gunpoint that they were robbers and ordered him to drive them to the bank where they wanted to get the cash that had come from the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) on Tuesday.

Chapola said Moffat was threatened not to call for help, as they would pull the trigger.

“When they drove to the bank, they also pointed a pistol at the security guard manning the gate. When Moffat opened the back door, they pointed the gun at other employees who were still on duty and completed their mission,” said the police spokesperson.

According to Chapola, though police mounted roadblocks on all roads leading to Nkhata Bay, Karonga and Kasungu their efforts proved futile.

“The vehicles diverted into uncharted routes but upon reaching Jenda, police officers who are seconded to Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and man their Jenda Roadblock pursued them in a shootout thinking they were smugglers,” he said.

MRA deputy director of corporate affairs Steven Kapoloma said the robbers, who were using two vehicles, abandoned the silver Toyota Ipsum registration DZ 4039 and sped off in the other car.

“Having searched the abandoned vehicle, it was discovered that it contained huge amounts of money in local currency. The money has been handed over to police for further investigations,” Kapoloma said.

He said police have since established the official registration of the abandoned vehicle as CP 1732 while details of the other vehicle are still unknown.

In an interview, MRA Flexible Anti-Smuggling Team (Fast) supervisor for the North, Gardener Kunje, said the officers intercepted the vehicle after midnight.

Kunje said seven bags of money have been returned to the bank while the other car had sped off to Zambia.

On Thursday, Mzuzu Standard Bank Branch did not open for service as officials were counting the money in the presence of police as we went to press.

And in a statement yesterday, Standard Bank management said its Mzuzu Branch did not open for business as it had to be secured as a crime scene to allow police conduct investigations.

The bank said the incident took place outside business hours.

Said the bank: “Once police have concluded their investigations, we will be able to provide more details on the incident. Meanwhile, we plead for understanding on the part of our customers for the inconvenience the delayed resumption of business may cause.”