VBS heist: Forensic reports confirm official broke the law

Romeo Mohaudi, an official who served as an accounting officer in both Gauteng municipalities implicated in the VBS Mutual Bank looting scandal, had broken the law, according to forensic reports by auditing firm Deloitte.

They were made public last week, following cooperative governance MEC Lebohang Maile’s announcement that he had written to the West Rand District Municipality (WRDM) and the Merafong Municipality, instructing them to give reasons why heads should not roll following the findings.

The reports indicated that not only had the investments of over R100 million been illegal in terms of several laws governing municipalities, but at least three officials may have benefited from an alleged commission scheme in which the Limpopo-based bank allegedly gave kickbacks in return for the illegal transactions.

Earlier this year, the DA called for the WRDM not to renew Mohaudi’s contract after it expired in June, because he was implicated in the VBS scandal.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.