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VBS Mutual Bank.
Some minority shareholders of the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank have expressed disappointment over the criteria used by the liquidator to pay back the money to verified creditors and retail depositors.
The liquidator has recouped more than R600 million so far, with some of the funds being paid back to municipalities.
Municipalities contravened the Municipal Financial Management Act when they invested in the mutual bank.
VBS was declared insolvent in 2018 and placed under curatorship following the looting of nearly R2 billion.
Madambi Muvhulawa, one of the minority shareholders, has expressed concern that the liquidator seems to be prioritising municipalities instead of people who lost their life savings when the bank collapsed.
“Our expectations was that whatever he collects should firstly distributed to the depositors, the ordinary people who have lost money. And once there is anything left over, then it can go to people who have deposited money illegally which is the municipalities. Municipalities even if they lose money that is a penalty of the wrong doing that they have done.”
Meanwhile, about 18 companies have so far been liquidated in the ongoing process to recover the looted funds.
They include Vele Investments. The liquidator’s spokesperson, Louise Brugman says depositors who had invested more than R100 000 are at the same category as municipalities.
“Those depositors who held more than R100 000 in their VBS accounts are included in the concurrent creditors. These retail depositors are ranked on the same level as the municipalities. So, they will all equally get the same percentage of what they invested in the bank. In the case of VBS, they will all have received in total 25.6% of what they invested from the first and second dividend payment.”
