Court grants bail to 5 Post Bank staff accused of stealing Shs138m
Post Bank offices in Pakwach District. A shortage of Shs138 million was noted in Arua by the bank’s internal control functions. Photo/File
What you need to know:
- The accused were arrested upon returning to Arua from Post Bank Head office in Kampala where they had gone for a disciplinary session over the same matter last week.
The Chief Magistrate's Court Wednesday evening granted bail to five Post Bank Uganda staff accused of stealing Shs138 million from the bank’s branch in Arua City.
The five appeared before Chief Magistrate Paul Matyama who read the charges of theft of Shs138 million and conspiracy to steal Shs38million between May and December 2023.
They all denied the charges as they applied for bail. Prosecution led by senior state attorney Simon Angumale never objected the application but urged stringent bail terms, also saying “investigations into the matter were still ongoing.”
Consequently, each of the five was granted a cash bail of Shs2million while their sureties were each bonded at Shs50 million not cash. They will appear in court again on March 20.
The accused were arrested upon returning to Arua from Post Bank head office in Kampala where they had gone for a disciplinary session over the same matter last week.
Preliminary reports indicate that the money went missing during transit from the Post Bank Arua branch to Yumbe District.
On February 28, 2024, seven of the officials who were allegedly connected with the loss of money were called for disciplinary action at Post Bank head office.
The seven officials called to the head office included the branch manager, branch operations manager, the branch operations supervisor, customer service officer and three banking officers.
In an earlier story published by Monitor, Post Bank communications officer Priscilla Akora confirmed suspension of their staff in the Arua branch to allow investigations.
Case
On December 30, 2023, a risk team from Post Bank head office Kampala who visited Arua Branch for the end of year cash count, realized that about Shs138,685,450 was missing. An inquiry into the missing money was then launched by the bank.
