Staff reporter

The National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) has seized and secured the property of former NMB Assistant Finance Manager, Nyasha Dumbu after proving before the High Court that the property was tainted.

In a statement by NPAZ the Prosecutor General, Honourable Loyce Matanda-Moyo through the NPAZ Asset Forfeiture Unit approached the High Court seeking a civil forfeiture order against the property.

“Sometime between January and April 2021 Dumbu, then Finance Assistant Manager at NMB’s Borrowdale branch connived with Arthur Munhuuripi, an accounts clerk, to steal ZWL $23,425 701-96 from the bank,” said Matanda-Moyo.

It is the state case that in February 2021, Nyasha Dumbu and his wife Heather Ruvimbo purchased a property in Arlington for US $95, 000-00. When the offence was discovered in April, Munhuuripi was arrested whilst the Finance Assistant Manager fled the country and he remains a fugitive.

In an attempt to prevent the forfeiture order against the property, Heather Ruvimbo Dumbu, wife of the former NMB Finance Assistant Manager, appeared before the High Court claiming rightful ownership. She asserted that the property was purchased entirely with her own funds, obtained partially through a loan and partially through her own investments.

The High Court found the timing of the property purchase suspiciously close to the bank theft. Further, the court determined that Heather Dumbu’s evidence was misleading and that the Arlington property was acquired through illicit means, specifically money laundering.