A teller with Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) was arrested over the weekend with part of the money he had earlier stolen from his work place in Musanze district.The suspect, identified as Methode Ngendahayo, was arrested with USD8500 and Uganda Shs10150 out of the over Rwf11m which he had disappeared with on Friday.Security sources say that he had crossed into Uganda through the Cyanika border but was later intercepted with the help of one of his relatives in Kigali.Police said that Ngendahayo was lured to return and face justice other than stay in self imposed exile.“It was an initiative of our security personnel who were helped by relatives because the suspect had already admitted to committing the crime,” Police Spokesperson Theos Badege said.He disclosed that theft by bank staff members was on the rise.Statistics indicate that 63 employees have been arrested since January 2012 for stealing from banks and different micro finance institutions.By press time, names of the banks and the money involved in these series of thefts were not readily available.Article 322 of the penal code stipulates that if convicted, Ngendahayo faces between one and three years in jail and up to Rwf1million fine.In a related development, the Central region’s Police Spokesperson, Superintendent Albert Gakara, last week revealed that the number of bank fraud cases involving women is on the rise. “We have arrested some of the women and investigations are ongoing to arrest the other women who have begun this ugly habit of defrauding banks,” Gakara said.He cited two recent cases involving women who stole millions of money from two banks around the city. One of the suspects still on the run is alleged to have stolen Rwf44million from Bank of Kigali last month while another stole over Rwf20million from Kenya Commercial Bank.They worked in banks and fraudulently transferred money from clients’ accounts.Superintendent Gakara called upon the public to cooperate with police and report to the authorities about such cases.
