The man, Brandon Benett, who has admitted to spending the R1,3 million that was mistakenly deposited into his bank account has said he does not dispute the facts in the Record’s article but wanted to tell his side of the story as well.
Benett said he is a man of God, not a hardened criminal, and does not deserve to be sent to jail for 15 years. Originally from Maraisburg, Benett spoke telephonically with the Record from his home in Brackenfell. “Earlier on the day [12 September 2014] Justin Swanepoel [who made the mistake of depositing the money that was meant for a shareholder into Benett’s account] called and asked me for my bank account number. We were joking around and since his wife Fazlin and I have helped each other out in the past when we fell on hard times, I thought they wanted to help me because I was unemployed. I left it at that but that night received an SMS from the bank saying R1,3 million had been deposited into my account.
“At first I thought it might be a Nigerian 419 scam but the very next day I went to my bank and asked where the money came from.
They told me the company’s name [the Record earlier agreed not to mention the company] but I did not know what the abbreviation stood for. I then asked the bank if the money was mine and they said the person who deposited it must have meant it for my account since the one time pin (OTP) had been activated. They immediately advised me as to an account I should open to deposit the money into,” explained Benett.
“When Justin phoned me and told me it was a mistake, I was immediately willing to pay back the money and said I would bring the cash to their offices. But they did not want it back, even though my lawyer told them I could bring them R750 000 since the other money was frozen in the other accounts I paid the money to. But they refused, saying they want the whole amount. I tried on four or five occasions to pay them back but they refused”.
But why did he go on to spend the money anyway after finding out it was a mistake? “Anybody will tell you I am a man of God,” he said. “At one stage I even thanked the Lord thinking it was a blessing from Him. Being the type of man I am I donated some to a charity, gave to friends who needed it as well as to family members. The problem came when I found out I had an aggressive form of cancer and that if I did not receive treatment I would die within weeks. This meant I could not go to a state hospital because the waiting list was too long. I had no choice but to go to a private hospital and specialist for treatment. I had to use the money. Then there is also the flying up and down from Cape Town to Johannesburg for the court case once a month as well as my legal fees,” said Benett.
“Thanks to the Swanepoels I still have my life though,” he added.
Read the initial article here: Man in dock again for spending R1,3 million mistakenly paid over
“What concerns me is that the case was initially referred to the Commercial Crimes Unit but they refused to investigate it. For me this means that it is a civil matter between Justin and me. I have offered to pay them R13 500 a month to cover their bond of R1 million they had to take out to pay the company back. But Justin has refused,” he said. At his last appearance, his lawyer made an offer to the Swanepoels, saying that Benett would pay them a lump sum of R500 000 and the rest off in instalments. It seemed that the Swanepoels might accept this but both insisted in court that he also gets jail time. Benett said he is now frantically liquidating assets in order to raise the R500 000 before his next appearance on 5 September when Magistrate John Baloyi will hand down his judgment. He hopes this will show good faith.
But what are his feelings about the judgment that will be handed down on 5 September? He hesitated for a moment before saying “I trust in God. God knows my heart. I can also not pay back the money if I am in jail and cannot work. I pray that Baloyi is a fair man. I have forgiven the Swanepoels. I still pray for a miracle that God will work in their hearts. I have lost a dear friend in Fazlin [with whom he had been friends for 30 years before the incident]. I do not hate them. I am not angry, just disappointed,” said Benett.
“This could have been resolved a long time ago,” concluded Benett.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
