Victims of two brazen First National Bank safety deposit box heists believed for six months that they had lost everything.

Now they have discovered the bank recovered a stash of coins‚ jewellery and foreign currency at the crime scenes.

“The revelation has come as a huge shock to the victims‚ and reignited their anger as they scramble to find out if they were among the lucky ones‚” said Kelly Fraser‚ who heads a committee representing some 200 victims‚ many of whom interact on a WhatsApp group.

Her father Andrew Fraser’s safety deposit box containing 50 Krugerrands was among the 360 stolen from the Randburg branch on December 18.

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Two weeks later‚ on New Year’s Eve‚ thieves penetrated a vault at FNB Parktown and made off with R1.7-million in cash and valuables from about 30 safety deposit boxes.

Victims found out by chance that FNB had secretly retained some valuables recovered at the crime scenes. A loss adjuster showed one woman a 79-page book of photos of jewellery‚ coin sets and foreign currency.

She mentioned it on the Whatsapp group‚ igniting disbelief and anger that the bank hadn’t disclosed this. The photos have since been posted on the group.

“Whatever they’d put in those boxes had huge value to them‚ either financial or sentimental or both‚ so FNB is really playing havoc with their emotions‚” said Fraser.

“Many feel enormous guilt‚ having been entrusted with treasured family heirlooms going back generations.”

One victim was excited to see her purple jewellery case in a photo‚ only to have a loss adjuster say the thieves had emptied it.

A firm of loss adjusters was appointed by the bank to liaise with victims about the contents of their boxes‚ with a view to establishing if the bank would pay compensation.

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The small print of the bank’s safety deposit box contract states that it “will not be legally responsible under any circumstances for any loss or damage that may occur to the contents”. But victims questioned if the bank took appropriate steps to secure where the boxes were kept.

FNB staffers tasked with being heist victim “handlers” emailed them this week‚ saying it was “regrettable that these photographs have been inadvertently distributed”‚ creating “distress”.

Two days after the Randburg heist‚ police found boxes dumped in a field outside the FNB stadium. It was reported at the time that they’d been forced open and emptied.

Neither the bank nor police said anything about the valuables left behind in both vaults as the thieves made their escape.

Asked why‚ FNB’s “Points of Presence” CEO Lee-Anne van Zyl said the bank had invited customers to describe their valuables so that items could be matched to their owners.

“They’ve known about these valuables for six months! They could have catalogued them and shared the descriptions with the committee in January‚” said Fraser.