Court to rule on matters raised by defence in VBS case

The Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria is expected to make a ruling on Friday, on matters raised by the defence in the VBS Mutual Bank case.

The matter involves 13 accused who are facing multiple charges including theft, fraud, money laundering and racketeering, in connection with the collapse of the VBS Mutual Bank.

The legal representative for two of the accused, Advocate Shaun Abrahams, requested the court that his clients be prosecuted separately, saying it would be in the interest of justice and ensure they are not prejudiced.

Another bone of contention in court today, was some outstanding documents that the defence requested from the state.

Making legal submissions to the judge, Advocate Abrahams said the documents they are requesting, are crucial.

” Your lordship has a duty to enquire where are the documents, who has them, why can’t we get them because if they say they don’t have them, your lordship does not know if documents are lost, destroyed or what is the position around those documents. The lordship has the legal authority to enquire about the whereabouts of these documents.”

Abrahams also asked that his two clients, former ANC Provincial Treasurer Danny Msiza and former ANC Youth League leader Kabelo Matsepe, be prosecuted separately.

” My clients do not face any theft, or any fraud charges associated with that. The main witness to the alleged corruption, money laundering charges is Mr Matodzi, neither can testify that they have anything against my clients, neither in the joint trial.”

The State responded by stating that all the accused, including those represented by Abrahams, benefited from the theft.

” None of the accused are charged for everything. All of the are charged for various counts throughout the indictment apart from racketeering. All the accused benefitted from the theft of VBS Mutual Bank either by receiving the proceedings, deals or by receiving gratifications for the roles they played,” said State Prosecutor Hein Van Der Merwe.

The charges emanate from the looting of funds from VBS Mutual Bank that led to its eventual collapse in March 2018. This devastated many municipalities and individual depositors who lost their savings.

Last month, former VBS chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to fraud-related charges.

Earlier in the day, DA deputy chief whip Baxolile Nodada staged a picket outside the court, calling for justice to prevail. Report by Calvin Dludla