HARARE- The High Court has acquitted Tendai Zuze, who served part of a 10-year sentence for the 2021 ZB Bank heist, after judges ruled his conviction was based on inadequate evidence. The robbery, Zimbabwe’s largest cash heist, involved US$2.7 million stolen from a bank transit van.

Judges Happias Zhou and Benjamin Chikowero found the prosecution failed to prove Zuze’s involvement beyond reasonable doubt. The court determined that evidence placing him near the crime scene and his possession of US$35,000 were insufficient grounds for conviction.

The robbery occurred near Nyabira on the Harare-Chinhoyi highway, where criminals intercepted a ZB Bank cash-in-transit vehicle. Zuze was initially convicted alongside Never Mwamuka and bank employee Shadreck Njowa, identified as the heist’s mastermind.

“The trial court grossly erred in predicating the appellant’s conviction on colorless circumstantial evidence,” the judges stated in their ruling. They noted that prosecutors disregarded evidence that could have exonerated Zuze.

Prosecution evidence showed Zuze purchased a Honda Fit vehicle two days after the robbery, and phone records placed him near Nyabira before the heist. However, the judges ruled these circumstances created only suspicion, not proof of guilt.

The court accepted Zuze’s explanation that the US$35,000 found in his possession came from small-scale mining operations, with US$10,000 belonging to his wife’s Stokvel savings. ZB Bank’s failure to record stolen banknotes’ serial numbers made it impossible to link the money to the heist.

“The conviction is quashed and the sentence set aside,” the judges concluded, ordering Zuze’s immediate release. The case continues to draw public attention as one of Zimbabwe’s most significant bank robberies.