Malawi police arrest Zambian national for robbing Airtel agent
Police in Balaka are keeping in custody a Zambian national suspected to have stolen money amounting to K300,000.00 from an Airtel Money Agent in Mangochi district.
The law enforcers identified the suspect as Derrick Thole aged 32 and was arrested on Friday.
According to In-charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Balaka Police Station Assistant Superintendent Maxwell Divala, the suspect went to an Airtel Money agent at Mangochi pretending to send money to two people.
“He then went to his motor vehicle registration number BAB 7685 where he took a bunch of money and ordered the agent to send K300, 000.00 Before giving the agent his money, the suspect pretended to have received a call from his mobile phone and he rushed to his vehicle as if he wanted to take something and drove off leaving the agent with his loaf of bread.
“The suspect immediately rushed to the agent where the money was sent and withdrew the cash and left the district.”
After this, the Agent reported the matter to Police who immediately alerted all the Police formations and the suspect was arrested by Traffic Police Officers who were doing traffic checks at Chingeni Road Block.
According to Divala, the suspect is also suspected to have committed similar offence in other districts apart from Mangochi.
Meanwhile, the suspect is in custody and will be sent to Mangochi Police where he will appear before court to answer the case of theft by trick.
Derrick Thole comes from Chalungwa village, in the area of Zamani in Zambia.
I am a Malawian living in Zambia. We have Malawians stealing and getting arrested daily in Zambia. Very embarrassing, always in the news
This is my advise to all agents(whether Airtel money or Mpamba)be very careful because this business requires a sound security knowledge otherwise you’re at risk. How can you complete transaction of a such huge amount before receiving the cash…..zatulo zokhazokha…..olo kubanki amapanga bwanji munthu akamasunga ndalama. It’s the same with banking procedures, and you shouldn’t put much trust to the customer for the reason that is using a vehicle nooo!!! no! no!!!!!!!!
Exposing weaknesses of Airtel Money…
achokera ku zambia ku zabera aMalawi. A police tipatseni tikonze ndi tayala
Anzanu amaziwerenge kaye ndalamazo ndikumatumiza bwino, nanga munthu atakupatsani zosakwana? kupupuluma ngati mkodzo wa munthu wokhuta mowa bwanji? Makosana?
Let’s learn something from the incident. To the Airtel agent, which transaction procedure should first start? Sending the money or getting hold of the cash from the customer? Please don’t rely much on trust when dealing with money transactions . The first thing obviously should be getting hold of the cash to be remitted from the customer, count it to vetify the amount and then proceed with the rest.
Beware of Zambians. Many of them are thieves. They are the ones who like stealing vehicles in Lilongwe and other places.