By Fungai Lupande
A personal banker with ZB Bank allegedly connived with a sacked employee to make a fake funeral assurance claim, swindling the bank of $5 000.
Innocent Gwasira based at ZB bank First Street and George Silundika Avenue in Harare, appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Rumbidzai Mugwagwa.
He is facing fraud charges and was remanded to January 31 this year on $100 bail.
The complainant is ZB Bank represented by its senior forensic auditor Mr John Chiwawa.
The prosecutor Ms Audrey Chogumaira alleged that Gwasira connived with the bank’s contract teller, Lawrence Ngehama to commit the offence.
Ngehama is reportedly on the run.
The court heard that ZB Bank offers funeral assurance cash policies to its customers and staff members.
Upon death of an insured dependent the bank pays the agreed amount to the bereaved policy holder.
Ngehama had the funeral assurance policy with the bank.
It is alleged that on June 30 this year Ngehama’s contract with the bank was terminated. Gwasira and Ngehama connived to defraud the bank.
Ngehama created a fake death certificate for a policy dependent Pedzisai Ngehama and attached it to the funeral policy claim form.
It is alleged that instead of submitting the documents through the claims supervisor Ngehama gave them to Gwasira.
Gwasira took the documents to the claims supervisor, Hazel Ndokera and gave her a mobile number 0778 700 007 purporting it belonged to an official at the Registrar-General’s office.
The number belonged to one Pascal and he confirmed that the death certificate was genuine.
It is alleged that Ndokera authorised the payment of $5 000 to Ngehama who was the beneficiary.
The court heard that on July 4, last year Ngehama transferred $1 500 into the account number of Gwasira’s four-year-old son.
In October last year, an internal audit at the bank queried the authenticity of the death certificate.
A letter was written to the Registrar- General’s Office seeking clarity and it was established that Pedzisai is alive.
The bank lost $5 000 and nothing was recovered. The Herald
