High Court frees man convicted of US$2.7m ZB heist

The High Court has acquitted one of the individuals convicted of masterminding the 2021 Chinhoyi money heist, which saw ZB Bank losing a more than US$2 million.

Tendai Zuze, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for armed robbery involving US$2.7 million, had his conviction overturned on the basis that the prosecution relied heavily on circumstantial evidence.

High Court judges, Justice Happias Zhou and Justice Benjamin Chikowero, noted that the bank failed to record the serial numbers of the stolen cash, hence it is impossible to prove that the cash found on Zuze belonged to the bank.

In addition, the state witness was unable to identify the money recovered from Zuze as part of the stolen cash.

Zuze was arrested in 2021 after being found with US$35,000 in cash and was accused of being part of a gang that robbed a ZB Bank cash-in-transit vehicle in Chinhoyi.

Of the seven individuals arrested, four were acquitted with Zuze being the latest to be cleared of any wrongdoing. ZBC