A MAN accused of participating in a daylight US$4 million bank robbery has been denied bail by the Bulawayo High Court, with a judge ruling he is a flight risk following a complex extradition process from Botswana.
Bhekani Milo appeared before Justice Evangelista Kabasa seeking bail pending trial on charges of contravening section 126 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
His application was dismissed after the court weighed his right to liberty against the proper administration of justice.
Milo was arrested in Botswana on July 15 last year and successfully extradited to Zimbabwe in November 2025.
According to court papers, on October 3, 2024, Milo and several accomplices allegedly drove from South Africa in a white Ford Ranger with South African registration.
They reportedly replaced the plates with Zimbabwean ones before going to EcoBank Parkade in Bulawayo.
The group allegedly blocked a Safeguard Private Security cash-in-transit vehicle, held security guards hostage and used firearms to seize two metal cash boxes containing US$4 448 500, along with three firearms, before fleeing.
The court heard that his two alleged accomplices, Elijah and Abraham Vumbunu, were arrested in South Africa and are awaiting extradition.
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Prosecutors stated that Milo, who had also been to South Africa, fled to Botswana, where he was apprehended at the Tlokweng border.
The State argued that there is a strong prima facie case against Milo, noting the getaway vehicle was recovered and witnesses are available to testify, including one privy to a planning meeting in South Africa.
Prosecutors said the charges were serious and carried a lengthy prison sentence, increasing the temptation to evade justice.
They also emphasised that police encountered significant challenges arresting Milo, with the process taking months on end and requiring international co-operation, demonstrating he is a flight risk.
In defence, Milo argued that he was in Mozambique at the time the offence was committed and is a family man of fixed abode.
He offered to surrender his passport to address concerns of abscondment and claimed not to know an accomplices or witnesses.
Justice Kabasa acknowledged that bail should not be used as anticipatory punishment and cannot be denied solely based on the seriousness of the offence.
However, she cited factors including the gravity of the charges, likely penalty, incentive to flee, the applicant’s ability to travel across borders and the strength of the State’s case.
“The applicant is well travelled and the lack of a passport with our porous borders cannot stop one from travelling,” Justice Kabasa ruled.
“The police already had problems arresting the applicant and only managed to do so through the extradition process.
“If that does not speak to him being a flight risk, then I do not know what will.
“The wheels of justice must be allowed to turn without impediment and where there is a danger that one may not attend trial, as has been demonstrated in casu [in this case], bail ought to be refused.
“The interests and proper administration of justice do not support the admission of such an applicant to bail.”
