Questions swirl around how Thabo Bester opened bank account without an ID

After only being issued a birth certificate and identification document last week, questions are being asked as to how Thabo Bester was able to open a bank account.

Anyone that wants to open a bank account in South Africa is legally required to provide an ID document.

ID issued to Thabo Bester

After Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed that Bester was issued an ID card on 17 May 2023, ActionSA has requested that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s (FSCA’s) commissioner, Unathi Kamlana, clarify how the convicted criminal had an operational bank account.

ALSO READ: Home Affairs issues ID to Thabo Bester

This comes after reports that Bester had his bank account frozen after investigations into his escape.

“It is unclear whether this was [Bester’s] first issuance of an ID document or whether he had one at some point in the past. Nevertheless, the FSCA must provide clarity about the status of [Bester’s] finances and whether or not there is a violation of lawful financial practices,” said ActionSA Free State provincial chairperson, Patricia Kopane.

Kopane alleged that the bank account could have been used to bankroll his escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.

How did Bester open bank account?

ActionSA also wants to know whether any verification was done by the bank when the account was opened, and why Bester wasn’t required to provide the usual Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) documents.

“According to Section 29 of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001, which requires institutions to report all suspicious financial activities, the announcement made by the Minister of Home Affairs brought into question how his bank verified the client in order to open a bank account that reportedly had a balance of R872 million whilst the requisite FICA documents were not furnished,” said Kopane.

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“ActionSA would like to get clarity on this seemingly brazen violation of FICA, specifically the ‘Know Your Client’ requirements by a major corporate in South Africa.

“Furthermore, we would like to know whether actions would be taken to get clarity on how this financial institution rubber-stamped the opening of a bank account by Bester in, what appears to be, a contravention of FICA regulations.”

Prison escape

Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in May 2022. It was initially believed that he had died after setting a fire in his cell.

An investigation has since revealed that the charred body that was found in Bester’s cell was that of Free State resident Katlego Bereng.

Bester and his alleged accomplice and girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, were arrested in Tanzania in April, after the couple had fled South Africa.

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