Another former municipal official arrested in connection with VBS heist

The Hawks have once again pounced on another municipal official involved in the great heist of the now-defunct VBS mutual bank.

The directorate for priority crime investigation on Thursday announced the arrest of a former Chief Financial Officer at Collins Chabane Municipality.

The said official is alleged to have been involved in an unlawful and irregular investment of the municipal money with VBS Mutual Bank.

“It is alleged that on 23 October 2017, Collins Chabane Municipality invested R120 million with VBS in contrary with the Municipal Finance Management Act,” said Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo.

“The suspect is expected to make his first appearance in the Palm Ridge Specialized Commercial Crimes Court on Friday, 6 May 2022 for contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act.”

This is the second official who worked for the municipality to be arrested for the matter after the arrest of erstwhile Municipal Manager, Charlotte Ngobeni in March last year.

Ngobeni is currently out on an R50 000-00 bail and will appear again on 9 May 2022.

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The last two suspects to be arrested on the matter were the former mayor of Thulamela Local Municipality in Limpopo, Avhashoni Tshifhango, and municipal manager Hlengani Maluleke back in February.

They were each granted an R30,000 bail following a brief appearance at the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court.

The Hawks said that Investigations with regard to VBS cases were now at an advanced stage and a total of 27 suspects have been arrested so far with more arrests still imminent.

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