VBS liquidators recover R159m
The liquidation team of the defunct VBS Mutual Bank has recovered R159m to date, way off the R2bn siphoned from the bank.
With continued efforts to trace and reclaim the bank’s assets, the team said it was determined to make additional dividend payments to creditors, offering a glimmer of hope amid the financial scandal’s fallout, BusinessLIVE reports.
VBS was placed into final liquidation in November 2018 by the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg), with Anoosh Rooplal appointed as the liquidator.
The first liquidation dividend of 7c was distributed to all proven concurrent creditors, with R110m set aside for the affected municipalities.
The concurrent creditors who lodged claims encompass 13 municipalities, various business depositors, retail depositors and supplier creditors. Retail creditors included those with claims exceeding R100 000, after the initial R100 000 was covered by the Reserve Bank guarantee through Nedbank, the team said.
Tshifhiwa Matodzi, the former chair of VBS and a central figure in the scandal, started his 15-year jail sentence last week after pleading guilty to 33 counts, including corruption, theft, fraud, money-laundering and racketeering.
In his affidavit, Matodzi implicated the EFF’s top leaders, claiming the party received a R5m payment and R1m in monthly donations to stop its public criticism of the bank after it provided a R7.8m home loan to former President Jacob Zuma for his Nkandla residence.
BusinessLIVE notes that legal expert Mashudu Kutama said: ‘The affidavit is damning and important in the investigation of the VBS heist saga. Of course, most of the allegations are also contained in Advocate Terry Motau’s report.’
‘Like any piece of evidence, the allegations have to be tested in court. It may be easy with documentary proof arising from bank statements because the amounts mentioned would have possibly been transferred from VBS bank accounts to beneficiaries.'
SACP national chair Blade Nzimande has again denied allegations that the party benefited financially from VBS.
His denial came after the former secretary of the SACP in Limpopo, Phatse Justice Piitso, called on the party to make a public apology and pay back the R3m it allegedly received from VBS. The money was allegedly to settle a conference bill owed to the Birchwood Hotel in Kempton Park in 2017 through then Gauteng chair Jacob Mamabolo as previously reported.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
