BARCLAYS BANK EMPLOYEE IN COURT OVER K119.5M FRAUD

A Barclays Bank employee yesterday appeared in the Mansa magistrate court in Luapula Province facing for defrauding the bank of K119.5 million.

Before Mansa Principal Resident Magistrate John Mbuzi was Geoffrey Muleta, 36, who is facing 10 counts of theft by servant involving K119.5 million.

The court heard that Muleta between April 1, last year and October 13, 2010 had engaged in activities that defrauded the bank.

In the first and second counts, Muleta is charged with defrauding the bank out of K15 million in each instance.

In the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth counts, he is said to have swindled the bank out of K10million, K12 million, K1.5million, K10 million, K600, 000, and K20 million respectively.

And in the ninth and tenth counts, Muleta is charged with stealing K15million on each count.

The prosecution told the court that it will call ten witnesses to testify against the accused.

Yesterday, when the case came up for trial, Barclays Bank Mansa Branch Manager Gertrude Kauseni testified as the first prosecution witness.

Ms Kauseni said on October 4^th, 2010, she received a complaint from a customer over a transaction of K10.1million drawn from her account without her knowledge.

The Manager said she checked the deposit and withdraw statement and discovered that there was a suspicious transaction on the customer’s account.

She told the court that she immediately asked the accused, who informed her that there was indeed a mistake on the transaction.

She said the CCTV in the bank captured Muleta giving a cashier some money which she suspected belonged to the customer whose account was tampered with.

Ms. Kauseni said she then reported the matter to Barclays headquarters in Lusaka where her superiors advised her to report the matter to police immediately.

In the same court, a 24 -year -old woman of Mansa district pleaded not guilty to one count of theft, contrary to Section 272 of the Penal Code Chapter 87 0f the Laws of Zambia.

Facts before the court were that on April 16, 2010, in Mansa, the accused, Ogreence Kansankala stole money amounting to K11 million, the property of Barclays Bank, Mansa Branch.

The two separate matters comes up for continued trial on February 7 and 8, 2011 respectively in the same court.

ZANIS