5 Post Bank Staff Arrested Over Theft of Shs 138M Cash

Written by URN

Arrests have been made in connection with the alleged theft of Shs 138 million from the Post Bank in Arua. Arua Central Police Station has detained five staff members believed to be involved in the conspiracy.

The suspects, including Leonard Lakwey, the operations manager, Walter Feni, a customer service officer, and banking officers Resty Lunkuse, David Tenywa, and Brian Olara Okidi, were apprehended upon their return to Arua from Post Bank’s head office in Kampala. They had attended a disciplinary session concerning the missing funds the previous week.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the money disappeared during transit from the Post Bank branch in Arua City to Yumbe district. Josephine Angucia, the West Nile region police spokesperson, confirmed the arrests, indicating that the discrepancy came to light in December last year during an end-of-year audit conducted by officials from the Post Bank head office.

The matter was officially reported to the police on February 5, leading to the current arrests. Angucia stated that the suspects have been charged with theft pending advice from the resident state attorney.

In a statement released on Sunday, police revealed that the branch manager and operations supervisor of the Arua branch, who are currently at large, failed to appear for the disciplinary session at the head office.

This isn’t the first time Post Bank, a government-owned financial institution, has faced such allegations. In 2019, seven former top managers were accused of fraud amounting to approximately Shs 4 billion. However, the court later acquitted them of the charges.