BAR ATTENDANT JAILED 4 YEARS FOR MOMO THEFT

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Posted by admin on April 29, 2026 at 6:53 AM

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The Ndola Magistrates Court has sentenced Boyd Mbale (30), a bar attendant of Chipulukusu Township, to four years’ imprisonment with hard labour after he stole K7,000 from a business executive’s mobile money account.

Mbale was convicted on one count of theft for unlawfully transferring funds from the victim’s MTN mobile money account without consent.

Facts before court revealed that on March 14, 2026, around 02:00 hours, Mbale stole the money from Lolo Mwambazi, a business executive of the same township.

Senior State Prosecutor Sydney Mwape told the court that Mwambazi had gone out partying at Kabwata Bar and left his mobile phone in Mbale’s custody. Upon returning, Mwambazi discovered his account balance was lower than expected and alerted the MTN call centre.

With assistance from MTN and the Zambia Police Service, a mobile money statement was obtained, showing that K7,000 had been transferred to Mbale’s account without permission. The matter was reported to police, leading to Mbale’s arrest.

In mitigation, Mbale pleaded for leniency, stating that he had refunded K3,000 of the stolen money. However, Magistrate Brian Simachela ruled that despite being a first offender, the offence was grave and warranted a custodial sentence.