The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has secured its first conviction relating to the VBS Mutual Bank scandal, which saw more than R2bn from the Limpopo-based bank looted, allegedly by its executives.
On Wednesday, Philip Truter, the former CFO of VBS Mutual Bank, was sentenced in the Palmridge commercial crimes court in Johannesburg to 10 years’ imprisonment. Three years of the 10 were suspended for five years, leaving him to serve an effective seven-year term, NPA spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said.
The conviction comes more than three years after a forensic report titled “The Great Bank Heist”, commissioned by the Prudential Authority, was released, in which it was detailed how VBS Mutual Bank was plundered.
Ngwema said Truter pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering and racketeering and has undertaken to co-operate with the state’s case, which was investigated by the Hawks and guided by the NPA.
“He was complicit and active during the VBS debacle and has decided to come clean,” Ngwema said.
In the forensic investigation done by advocate Terry Motau and Werksmans Attorneys, Truter conceded that he was a participant in the manipulation of VBS’s banking systems and the fraudulent misrepresentations contained in its 2017 annual financial statements.
“Someone like Truter, who decides to take responsibility for his actions, will always be encouraged to talk to the state and such honesty is welcomed. Corruption can effectively be beaten from the inside,” Ngwema said.
His co-accused, former VBS chair Tshifhiwa Calvin Matodzi, CEO Andile Ramavhunga, former treasurer Phophi Mukhodobwane, former nonexecutive board members Ernest Nesane and Paul Magula, the former CFO of the SA Police Service, Phalaphala Avhashoni Ramikosi, and former KPMG engagement partner Sipho Malaba, are expected in court on Thursday.
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