Mugabe 'lost $1m not $150,000' in briefcase theft

Robert Mugabe was ousted as President in 2017 after 37 years in power. /BBC
Robert Mugabe was ousted as President in 2017 after 37 years in power. /BBC

Nearly $1m (£914,000) in cash was stolen from a briefcase belonging to Zimbabwe's former President Robert Mugabe, the

"updated court documents".

accused of stealing a suitcase containing $150,000, but Mr Mugabe says he lost much more.

In 2016, when he was still president, Mr Mugabe reportedly took the money to his rural home in Zvimba in a black briefcase, giving the suitcase to Constance Mugabe, a relative who also served as his housekeeper, for safe keeping.

Last March, four months after he had been forced out of office by the military, he asked for the briefcase, but Constance Mugabe said she did not know its whereabouts.

He later asked other staff to look for it - and this was when it was found but with only $78,000 inside, The Herald reports.

The suspected thieves allegedly spent the money on cars, homes and animals.

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