Cape Town – The case against the seven accused in the VBS Mutual Bank corruption case was on Thursday postponed until January as more arrest are expected in the coming weeks and months.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Thursday it would amend the indictment against the accused and add more names to the charge sheet.
"The VBS matter was postponed to the 21st of January earlier today at the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Palm Ridge," NPA spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said.
"This is in order to amend the indictment but also to add further accused in the matter. So we are hoping that between now and January those things would have taken place and we would have been able to do that and to share the new indictment with the accused."
This follows the conviction and sentencing of former VBS finance director Philip Truter on Wednesday.
Truter signed a plea bargain agreement with the State and pleaded guilty on six charges of fraud, racketeering, corruption, money laundering and failure to submit a tax return for his role in the disappearance of R1.89 billion from the bank's deposits.
He was handed a 10-year prison term, with three years suspended for a period of five years.
It emerged in the plea bargain that he received some R7 million in 2017, the year in which he fraudulently misrepresented the bank's financial statements to give a skewed picture of its assets and liabilities.
The seven suspects, who were arrested earlier this year and appeared in court on Thursday, have denied all charges. They include former chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi, former CEO Andile Ramavhunga and treasurer Phophi Mukhodobwane.
Matodzi is allegedly the kingpin in the scheme laid bare two years ago by advocate Terry Motau in a forensic report titled “The Great Bank Heist”.
It outlined how VBS notables persuaded municipal officials to deposit large sums of public money with the bank.
Fourteen municipalities eventually lost a total of about R1.5 billion as the money flowed elsewhere.
Truter’s testimony is believed to have strengthened the State’s case considerably.
African News Agency (ANA)