Three years in jail for former bank employee who stole R560,000

The specialised commercial crimes court sitting in Ga-Rankuwa on Wednesday sentenced former Standard Bank employee Bongani Vincent Nkosi to eight years' imprisonment for theft. 

Five years of the sentence were suspended for five years, meaning the effective sentence is three years in jail, said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in North West Sivenathi Gunya.

Nkosi, 37, was employed at the bank’s Mabopane branch. His duties included loading cash into six ATMs and taking out cash from deposits made by customers at those ATMs.

On February 3 2017, he was required to load R630,000 into an ATM.

He loaded only R70,000 and took the balance of R560,000 for his own benefit. He was arrested in July 2018 and was granted bail of R5,000.

Nkosi claimed he was accosted and kidnapped by unknown people who threatened to cause harm to him if he did not steal R1m from the bank and give the money to them.

Nkosi claimed he was then released to go to his workplace on February 3 2017. Nkosi did not report the kidnapping to the bank or police.

In aggravation of sentence, state advocate Fhulufhelo Munyai urged the court to consider the rise in commercial crimes as a concerning factor. He said the court must look at the financial loss suffered by the bank. 

During sentencing, magistrate Thabo Boase said the accused knew the internal process of dealing with threats ton the bank. 

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