By Munyaradzi Musiiwa
STEWARD Bank formerly TN has lost more than $300,000 to robbers who pounced at its Gweru branch, police have confirmed.
It is understood that a group of robbers pounced at the bank along Main Street in Gweru on Thursday night and broke into the banking hall where they allegedly broke the safe and stole more than $300,000.
The Officer Commanding Midlands, Senior Assistant Commissioner Shadreck Mubaiwa confirmed the robbery but could not give further details.
“We received a report that Steward bank was robbed last night. The report was that some unidentified men broke into the bank and stole an undisclosed amount of money.
‘‘As police we sent some detectives to go and investigate the matter but the Steward Bank management isn’t forthcoming. They’ve barred us from carrying out investigations claiming that they needed to carry out internal investigations first and inform their top management before allowing the police to intervene. We’re yet to get the finer details of the matter as our detectives are still to complete investigations,” he said.
Snr Asst Comm Mubaiwa said the suspects were still at large.
However, police sources revealed that the robbers got away with more than $300,000.
“The amount of the money stolen is more than $300,000. Police were barred from investigating the robbery by the bank’s management.
From the look of things, the robbers could have connived with either the security guards or one of the members of staff at Steward Bank hence they want to conduct internal investigations. What’s surprising is that the premises are manned 24 hours and are in the central business district. No one was reportedly hurt or injured,” said a police source. The Chronicle
