Standard Chartered Bank investigator's dismissal upheld by court

The Johannesburg Labour Court has dismissed a review application by Mercy Zihove, a Zimbabwean senior forensic investigator, upholding her dismissal from Standard Chartered Bank South Africa.

The case originated in January 2023 when an elderly victim of a romance scam transferred R300,000 to various accounts, including R100,000 into Zihove’s business, Mike Angies Workshop. Zihove subsequently transferred R90,000 of those funds to other accounts on the same day. Zihove claimed she failed to verify the source of the funds because she trusted her workshop manager, who stated the money was for a vehicle purchase for a contact in Dubai.

Standard Chartered Bank argued that Zihove, a certified fraud examiner with over 10 years of experience, should have flagged the suspicious transaction. While an independent chairperson initially found her not guilty, bank management intervened to change the verdict to guilty, leading to her dismissal in April 2023.

The Commission for Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) previously ruled that while the dismissal was procedurally unfair due to management's interference, it was substantively fair based on gross negligence. The Labour Court has now upheld this decision, ruling that the compensation awarded by the CCMA addressed the procedural errors.