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Barclays Bank Eastleigh branch/FILE

Kenya

Cashiers, guards in court over Sh50m bank theft

Barclays Bank Eastleigh branch/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 3 – Three cashiers of Barclays Bank have been charged in a Nairobi court over last Sunday’s theft of Sh54 million from the bank’s Eastleigh branch.

Richard Kimathi, Fredrick Omondi and Stephen Githinji were on Friday accused of stealing the money which was in shillings, dollars and euros with other suspects not before court.

Police have also preferred similar charges against security guards Jacob Kioko Mbutu and Japhet Kiprop Tanui.

The guards were accused of failing to use all reasonable means to prevent commission of the offence.

The suspects however denied the charges and were released on a cash bail of Sh5 million each until March 19 when their trials will commence.

Preliminary investigations by police indicated that it could have been an inside job.

Three gunmen are said to have walked into the bank after pleading with security guards to allow them deposit a huge amount of money after normal working hours that end 5pm.

After the gunmen gained entry into the bank they drew guns and ordered people to lie down and demanded the money from the operations manager.

The bank operates even on Sunday probably due to the high demand for banking services at the densely populated Eastleigh which is largely inhabited by the Somali community.

The area is host to large shopping malls mainly dealing in imported garments, interior decorations, motor vehicle spare parts as well as other items, offering attractive prices for both wholesalers and retailers.

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The bank was being guarded by two Administration Police officers and private security guards at the entrance.

The last time a bank robbery was reported in Kenya was in April 2011 when armed robbers grabbed Sh30 million from a bank in Nanyuki.

Some of the suspects were arrested and charged days later and some of the money recovered.

Read related story here.

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