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Bank officials charged over M5.3 million theft

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Staff Reporter

MASERU – TWO senior Lesotho Post Bank officials are facing charges of stealing M5.3 million from the bank.

The two are being together with their relatives and a neighbour.

Thapeli Tjabane who is the bank’s manager of business applications and his wife, Tjantjello Moholoholo, Mathealira Lerotholi who is manager of projects and processes and his neighbour Nokhayalethu Soqaka appeared before the Maseru Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Lineo Lerotholi, who is Mathealira Lerotholi’s sister, is at large.

The crown says in 2015 an audit was performed at the bank where financial revenue leakage was identified.

“Certain anomalies in the system were discovered, and data inconsistencies in the Flexcube and Position were also discovered.”

The Flexcube system manages all the customers’ bank accounts where all electronically generated transactions are directed, processed, authorised and recorded as they are, and carried out real time either by the tellers at different branches, ATMs or the Point of Sale terminals across the country.

The Position Switch is an electronic processing system made mainly of Position Realtime and Position Offices. The former wound send requests to the Flexicube in real time on each card transaction initiated by the customer whether Point of Sale terminal or the ATM.

Position Office is used as a reporting data repository for transactions that have occurred through Position Realtime i.e reports are generated from Position Office from the transaction data that were copied from Position Realtime.

The crown says the audit also found that certain numerous transactions in the Flexcube and Position were deleted and/or modified through an unauthorised tampering of transactions by the bank.

As a result of the changes, tampering and alterations effected unlawfully into the system, revenue and monies belonging to the bank or was in its possession was stolen.

The crown says the suspects would apply for ATM cards, link them to certain accounts, transact by withdrawal method, delete, alter or tamper with data relating to those transactions.

The suspects are accused of committing cybercrime theft or computer theft and robbing the Lesotho Post Bank of M5.3 million.

The crown says from February 2015 to February 2016 the suspects made 1 407 transactions stealing monies ranging from M200 to M4 000.

The Lesotho Post Bank is wholly owned by the government and was incorporated in 2004 as a public company.

Its mandate is to provide financial services to the unbanked Basotho living in urban and rural areas of the country.

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