ANC heavyweights Danny Msiza and Kabelo Matsepe allegedly plotted a fake Hawks arrest of former VBS chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi.
Matodzi revealed the damning allegations in an explosive affidavit detailing the rise and fall of VBS Mutual Bank.
He was sentenced this week to 495 years of direct imprisonment after pleading guilty to corruption charges. Matodzi will ultimately serve an effective 15-year prison sentence. This comes after the court declared that most of the sentences would run concurrently. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Spokesperson of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) (Hawks), Col. Katlego Mogale, said Matodzi pleaded guilty to 33 counts. These include corruption, theft, fraud, money laundering, and a pattern of racketeering activities. All was in contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
Meeting at the police station
In the affidavit, Matodzi said he was coincidentally approached by two alleged Hawks officials at Lyttelton police station in Pretoria in March 2018.
He was invited to the police station by his then lawyer, Joseph Maluleke, to depose an affidavit on his company, Vele Investments and the curatorship of VBS bank.
He recalled that shortly after his lawyer left him at the police station, two men in plain clothing approached him and informed him that he was under arrest on a VBS matter.
The Lyttelton police official also confirmed the identities of the two men after they presented police cards.
According to the affidavit, Matodzi called his lawyer back to the station. Maluleke engaged with the two men outside the police station. Msiza also appeared within 30 minutes and also engaged with Maluleke and the two men.
“I was then told that Danny was on the phone with their ‘supervisor’, and the call lasted at least 20 minutes. After that ‘call’ and confirmation by the two men, Maluleke and Danny then came to me and told me that those two men were indeed from the Hawks and agreed to release me to Maluleke until further notice,” reads the document.
Nothing but a trap to loot his assets
According to the details, little did he know that he was falling into a trap. His lawyer would allegedly loot his assets from Vele Investments.
He said he visited his lawyer’s office in Pretoria a day after the Hawks incident. Matsepe and Maluleke were there at his lawyer’s office. He was informed that Msiza had visited the Hawks headquarters to negotiate the Lyttelton arrest with the Hawks bosses.
Msiza allegedly arrived at the office hours later. He told him that he needed to flee the country until the matter calmed down.
Matodzi said Msiza told him that he had paid between R200,000 and R300,000, which would be included in Maluleke’s bill. The bill was roughly R700,000. And it was agreed that it would be settled with the money received from the sale of his Ferrari.
To his surprise, Matodzi said Maluleke followed him all the way to OR Tambo to ensure that he indeed left the country.
“Maluleke suggested that I give him power of attorney. [This was] for him to act on my behalf and Vele’s during the period of my absence, and I agreed. From Maluleke’s offices, I ran a few errands and thereafter drove straight to the airport for my departure.
“The reason I signed the power of attorney in favour of Maluleke was on his advice. [He said] that it would assist in the cession of Vele to himself. And in him selling my personal motor vehicles and those belonging to Vele,” said Matodzi.
Transactions on his assets after he was lured out of the country
He had purchased the Ferrari 488 Spider for R6.5-million. It was sold for R5.5-million, but he only received R1-million. The Porsche 911 Carrera, which he purchased for R1.4-million, was sold for R650 000. But he allegedly only received R300 000.
Matodzi allegedly never received money from the sales of the Mercedes-Benz Viano. He bought it for R1,030 000, and the Range Rover Lumma, which he bought for R2,091 630.
The other payments he received were from Matsepe. They were paid into two different account numbers that did not belong to Matodzi, out of fear of having accounts frozen.
“This ‘Hawks’ arrest was a pure sham intended to hijack and make undue profit out of the disposal of my assets,” said Matodzi.
“After realising that the actions by Maluleke and associates were a tactic to take over Vele and sell my assets while I had been ordered to leave the country, I then decided to fly back into the country and revoke the Power of Attorney and then take back control of Vele,” he added.
