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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
Stanbic Bank nearly lost close to $200 000 to a 22-year-old Midlands State University student and his accomplice who hacked into e-mails of the bank’s clients.
Panashe Carlos Tengende (22) and Mugove Chimino (34) allegedly hacked into the e-mails of four Stanbic Bank account holders before sending e-mails to bank officials authorising them to transfer money from “their” accounts into the one they had created.
It is alleged the two, who are directors of a company called Black Platter Investments, intended to defraud the bank of $175 917. The pair yesterday appeared before magistrate Mr Milton Serima facing fraud charges and were remanded to October 31 on $200 bail each.

As part of their bail conditions, they were ordered to report every Friday at CID Gweru and to reside at their given addresses until finalisation of the matter.
Prosecutor Miss Sharon Mashavira alleged that after hacking into individual and company emails, the pair instructed the bank to transfer various amounts of money into their company’s bank account.

The court heard that the transfer instructions were allegedly given in the form of emails purportedly from the owners of the targeted accounts.
Ms Mashavira said the duo even hacked into the e-mail of the High Commission of Pakistan and instructed the bank to transfer $100 000 from “their” account into Black Platter’s account.

The offence was unearthed when an alert bank official Nongcebo Ngwenya received a transfer instruction of $10 567 purportedly from Charles Kunjani, one of the clients whose email was hacked, with the amount in figures different from that in words.

She then contacted Kunjani enquiring on the correct amount to transfer and he denied having emailed any transfer instructions.
The Stanbic Bank financial crime control manager received three more transfer instructions into Black Platter account, prompting him to contact the account holders who denied having instructed on any money transfers.

A report to the police was made and investigations led to the arrest of the pair.