The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) welcomes the sentencing of the former VBS Mutual Bank chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi to an effective 15 years in prison for the theft of more than R1.9bn.
Matodzi pleaded guilty to 33 charges of theft, fraud, money laundering and racketeering relating to theft of more than R1.9bn belonging to clients of the mutual bank, most of them elderly.
As part of a plea and sentence agreement with the state in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Matodzi admitted to being personally involved in the theft of the billions of rands between 2017 and 2018, by creating fictitious credit in VBS accounts, which was then transferred to other accounts.
Matodzi admitted he was motivated by greed when he stole because he already lived a comfortable life as a chartered account. He apologised to his victims, saying he wished he could reverse his actions.
This is little comfort for the thousands of pensioners, employees at VBS and defrauded municipalities, the working class and the poor who painstakingly saved every penny in the hopes they could one day reap the rewards of their financial discipline or leave some money for their grandchildren’s education.
Zanele Sabela, Cosatu spokesperson
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Image: Mduduzi Ndzing
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) welcomes the sentencing of the former VBS Mutual Bank chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi to an effective 15 years in prison for the theft of more than R1.9bn.
Matodzi pleaded guilty to 33 charges of theft, fraud, money laundering and racketeering relating to theft of more than R1.9bn belonging to clients of the mutual bank, most of them elderly.
As part of a plea and sentence agreement with the state in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Matodzi admitted to being personally involved in the theft of the billions of rands between 2017 and 2018, by creating fictitious credit in VBS accounts, which was then transferred to other accounts.
Matodzi admitted he was motivated by greed when he stole because he already lived a comfortable life as a chartered account. He apologised to his victims, saying he wished he could reverse his actions.
This is little comfort for the thousands of pensioners, employees at VBS and defrauded municipalities, the working class and the poor who painstakingly saved every penny in the hopes they could one day reap the rewards of their financial discipline or leave some money for their grandchildren’s education.
Zanele Sabela, Cosatu spokesperson
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