Africa-Press – Mozambique. An armed group has hit the main Commercial and Investment Bank (BCI) branch in Quelimane, the capital of Zambézia province, a police source said on Thursday.
The gang of five reportedly gained access to the bank’s vault and stole an undisclosed amount of money,this after one of the employees let a vehicle they were using into a restricted part of the bank, Zambézia police spokesman Sidner Lonzo told Lusa.
“They entered from the back of the facility. Unfortunately, after this event, six more doors were opened, but to be opened there must be authorisation from an employee inside the bank,” Lonzo said.
Customers and security guards remained unaware of the robbery, as the vehicle was authorised to enter a restricted part of the premises.
Preliminary police enquiries established that the group threatened five bank workers with firearms and stole the money, leaving them locked in one of the rooms.
“The employees who were in the area to attending to the public and the customers themselves suspected nothing, neither did the security guard who authorised the entry of the gang – so much so that they left by the same door through which they entered,” Lonzo added.
National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) is investigating the possibility that some bank workers may have facilitated the robbery. “Employees are being questioned,” Lonzo admitted.
BCI is 97% held by Portuguese banks Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD, through Parbanca SGPS) and BPI.
Bank of Mozambique figures dating from April this year indicated BCI as the first in a list of three banks by systemic importance in Mozambique, followed by Banco Internacional de Moçambique (Millennium Bim) and Standard Bank.
In the ratio that measures importance in the sector, known as D-SIB, BCI tops the list with 278 points, followed by Millennium Bim with 257 and Standard Bank with 159.
