The state has lodged an 87-page application in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) to go after the personal assets of the executives accused of looting VBS Mutual Bank of more than R1.5bn. Some of the executives allegedly lived the life of billionaires, raiding depositors’ money to purchase mansions, sports cars and a helicopter.

In what a Cape Times report describes as a strongly worded application, the state has given a clear indication of its intention to recover every cent of the bank’s depositors’ money. The biggest victims of the alleged fraud were 21 municipalities, community members and businesses in Venda and the Public Investment Corporation.

Curator Anoosh Rooplal has brought an urgent application to have Andile Ramavhunga, the bank’s chief executive, sequestrated first.

Rooplal said the move to urgently sequestrate Ramavhunga was ‘due to the fraud he, together with Vele Investments and others allegedly perpetrated against VBS, its depositors and local municipalities’. Ramavhunga was the prime target because he still enjoyed some control over assets of the bank as its former chief executive. He also had in his possession properties and cars bought with millions allegedly looted from the bank.

The curatorship also intended to secure assets in the possession of VBS’ largest shareholder Vele Investments, which received most of the siphoned money. ‘An application for Vele’s winding up will be brought simultaneously with the provisional sequestration applications of its controlling minds, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, Robert Madzonga and Ramavhunga. Rooplal said the findings from his investigation were ‘fortified’ by a probe conducted by Advocate Terry Motau, assisted by Werksmans Attorneys.

Full Cape Times report (subscription needed)