Ecobank US$4.4 million cash heist update: Suspect arrested in Botswana, extradited, spent 10 months in prison and released

A suspect in the US$4.4 million Ecobank cash-in-transit robbery in Bulawayo has been removed from remand after spending 10 months in custody without a trial date, leaving the State to rely on summonses once the remaining accused persons are brought before the courts.

Bhekani Mlilo, who was extradited from Botswana last year, was released from remand last Friday after Bulawayo regional magistrate Lungile Ncube dismissed an application by the State to keep him in custody until September 28. Mlilo appeared before the court facing a charge of armed robbery.

The magistrate said the delay could not continue while authorities waited for the extradition of other suspects linked to the case. He ordered that further remand be refused and directed that the State should proceed by way of summons once the outstanding suspects had been extradited.

“Accused has been in remand prison for 10 months with no trial date being allocated. The accused cannot continue being on remand for the failed extradition of the other suspects,” Ncube ruled.

Mlilo was represented by Tawanda Tavengwa of Mvundla Tavengwa Solicitors. The State was represented by prosecutor Rumbi Gwishiri, who had asked for the further remand period.

The decision marks a major development in a case that began with one of Zimbabwe’s most brazen daylight robberies. The alleged heist took place on October 3, 2024, at about 3.30pm, when armed men targeted a Safeguard cash-in-transit vehicle outside Ecobank’s branch at the corner of 9th Avenue and Fife Street in central Bulawayo.

The cash was being collected from two Ecobank branches. Three metal boxes taken from the city-centre branch allegedly contained US$3,983,500, while another box from the bank’s Bradfield branch contained US$465,500. The combined amount was US$4,449,000.

The court heard that the gang allegedly used a white Ford Ranger with South African registration plates. The vehicle was reportedly registered in the name of Nomsa Aneline Zingela. Investigators allege that the suspects replaced the South African plates with Zimbabwean plates before driving to the bank.

The prosecution alleges that the armed group intercepted the Safeguard vehicle after the guards had loaded the cash. The security officers were allegedly disarmed and forced into the back of the vehicle while the attackers removed the money and three firearms.

“They apprehended the guards and held them hostage, threatening to shoot them if they resisted,” Gwishiri said.

The suspects allegedly loaded the boxes into the Ford Ranger and fled through the busy city streets. Witnesses described a rapid operation carried out in the afternoon, with shoppers and passers-by left to watch as the attackers moved the cash from the security vehicle into the getaway truck.

The robbery happened only a short distance from Bulawayo Central Police Station. Early police inquiries raised questions about how the gang appeared to know the timing and movement of the cash. Police Commissioner Paul Nyathi said at the time that the manner of the robbery pointed to a possible inside job or the leakage of sensitive information.

Investigators later linked the robbery to a wider cross-border inquiry. Abraham Temayi Vumbunu and Elijah Temayi Vumbunu were arrested in South Africa on July 5, 2025, and remain at the centre of extradition proceedings. Zimbabwean authorities have been working with their South African counterparts to secure their return so they can face the charges in Zimbabwe.

The Vumbunu brothers, along with Mlilo, Simon Xola Ngcobo, Menzeli Mpofu and Khalid Ntimen, are among those named in the case. Other suspects remain at large. The prosecution has described the Vumbunu brothers as key figures in the alleged operation, while police have continued to pursue the wider network believed to have supported the robbery.

The cross-border dimension has added months to the case. Mlilo was arrested in Botswana before being extradited to Zimbabwe, while the Vumbunu brothers’ proceedings in South Africa have continued. The State’s position in court was that the case should ultimately proceed against the suspects together once the outstanding extraditions are completed.

The Ecobank investigation has also been connected to concerns about the use of inside information in major cash robberies. Police have urged banks, security firms and other businesses that handle large amounts of money to strengthen employee vetting and internal controls. Investigators have pointed to the precise timing of the robbery and the attackers’ apparent knowledge of the cash movement as important features of the inquiry.

The case has revived memories of an earlier Bulawayo bank break-in involving Mlilo. He is separately accused of masterminding a raid on a Nedbank branch in the city, where nearly US$300,000, more than R2.4 million and five gold coins were allegedly stolen.

The Nedbank case began with a break-in at the Belmont branch during the night of August 26, 2023. The alleged gang is accused of scaling a perimeter wall, cutting razor wire and removing a burglar bar before entering the bank. Inside, the suspects allegedly opened the server room and used a gas-cutting torch to force open the vault.

The money allegedly taken included US$272,000, R2,420,000 and five one-ounce gold coins valued at US$10,056. A network video recorder was also allegedly stolen. The break-in was discovered when Nedbank employees arrived for work on the morning of August 28, 2023.

Police recovered cigarette stubs and used tissue paper from the scene for DNA testing. Detectives also recovered cash carrying Nedbank seals, vehicles allegedly used in the operation and a gas-cutting torch. Only part of the money was recovered, including US$16,500 and R74,630, according to evidence presented during earlier proceedings.

The Nedbank trial has already commenced, with two State witnesses having testified. Proceedings later stalled after a key State witness was not served with a subpoena to attend court and give evidence. That delay has left the linked case moving separately from the Ecobank matter, even as the same suspect’s name appears in both investigations.

The earlier Nedbank proceedings also resulted in the acquittal of one accused person after the court found that the recovered cash had not been sufficiently linked to the bank robbery. Another man, Lovemore Gambiza, was later sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted over the theft.

The Ecobank robbery remains one of Zimbabwe’s largest cash heists. It eclipsed the 2021 Gwebi River Bridge cash-in-transit robbery, in which US$2.7 million was stolen from a vehicle travelling along the Harare-Chirundu highway. That case also involved allegations of inside assistance, with a bank employee later convicted alongside accomplices.

For now, Mlilo is no longer being held on remand in the Ecobank case. The State is expected to serve him with summonses if and when the Vumbunu brothers are extradited to Zimbabwe and the remaining suspects are brought before the courts. The case will then return to the centre of attention, with prosecutors expected to set out how the alleged planning, movement of cash, use of the Ford Ranger and escape across national borders fitted together in the US$4.4 million operation.