A 28-year-old security guard is in the dock after he helped robbers steal US$238,000 from his place of employment.
Source reported that the guard, Owen Muteeri, is accused of involvement in the robbery after the criminal gang of four stole US$238,000 from Online Logistics in Harare on Saturday night.
Muteeri appeared in court before Harare magistrate Donald Ndirowei, who remanded him in custody pending a bail application. Muteeri allegedly received a US$5,000 cut from the robbers and was instructed to dig and hide. He then buried his stash of cash in a maize field approximately 800 meters from the robbed company.
The incident occurred at Online Logistics Sunway City Industrial Area in Epworth.
The State alleged that Muteeri collaborated with accomplices, currently on the run, to break into the offices he guarded. The robbers went to the managing director’s office, broke into a safe and stole the substantial sum of money.
Muteeri, attempting to divert attention, falsely reported that he had been attacked by a four-man armed gang. He claimed the gang gave him US$5,000 and instructed him to hide the money in a maize field nearby. Subsequently, Muteeri took police officers to the hiding spot, resulting in the recovery of US$2,700.
Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector Luckmore Chakanza provided details about the heist:
“Circumstances were that on Saturday, at around 2345 hours, a security guard was on duty when his dog started barking towards the precast wall, and he went out of the guardroom to check. (He) saw an unknown male in the direction where the dog was barking. He was approached by two men from the other side of the guardroom, and they pointed an unknown type of firearm at him.
“The security guard noticed that all the accused persons were wearing masks and they were all armed with unknown types of pistols and one of them was armed with an AK47 rifle. The accused persons then proceeded to the office buildings and disconnected the computer system. They proceeded to the Operations Manager’s office and then to the managing director’s Office where they broke the safe and stole cash amounting to US$238 000.”
Source iHarare
