BULAWAYO – Security company Safeguard says it was not informed that it would be moving US$4 million by Ecobank before armed robbers seized the cash on a busy Bulawayo street on Thursday.
Police said Friday that investigations were in progress and no arrests had been made.
Safeguard said the sum of $4 million was well outside “the contracted limits for the movement of cash.”
Safeguard security guards travelling in one van had just picked up the money from the Ecobank branch at the NRZ Building with orders to deliver it to Harare.
The guards were in the process of loading the cash boxes into their van when a white single cab Ford Ranger pulled up and six armed men wearing face masks and bucket hats jumped out with guns drawn. The robbers quickly subdued the guards and seized the cash boxes.
Now Safeguard is raising the possibility that its insurers will not compensate Ecobank for any loss above the undisclosed limit which the two companies agreed on.
“We wish to remind all customers of their responsibility to work within their contracted limits… and to communicate clearly with us if a cash movement is to be out of the ordinary. This allows us to plan and approach the risks appropriately,” Safeguard CEO Andrew Mallon said in a statement.
He said a US$4 million move “obviously poses a significant risk” and was “well outside any contracted limits for Safeguard and almost certainly the security industry Africa wide.”
Mallon said a failure to communicate an unusual amount of cash being moved “places the safety of our staff, our security teams and your cash at considerable risk.”
On Friday, police said the robbery – the biggest cash heist in Zimbabwe’s history – was still under investigation.
“The ZRP is still conducting investigations in connection with the armed robbery incident which occurred in Bulawayo on October 3 at a local financial institution. The police dismisses social media messages indicating that the suspects have been arrested,” police spokesman Commissioner Paul Nyathi said.
“The police will certainly keep the public and media informed on the latest developments in relation to this case.”
