TWO more people have been arrested and charged in connection with the VBS banking scandal.
A total of 25 people have been charged in the investigation according to the police and face more than 100 charges.
Police spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said yesterday that two people, aged 49 and 52, were arrested following allegations of corruption and maladministration.
They are expected to appear in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court today.
“This is following an intensive investigation by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation into inappropriate administering of state funds into the Venda Mutual Bank by the Thulamela Local Municipality,” Mogale said.
“The investigation revealed that the municipality invested R30 million into VBS.”
Mogale said one of the suspects is a former mayor who allegedly accepted a Jeep Cherokee valued at over R638 000 through a well-known VBS money laundering third party.
“The municipal manager allegedly invested R30m of the municipality’s money into VBS in contravention of the Municipal Finance Act,” said Mogale.
The national Head of the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation, Dr Advocate Godfrey Lebeya, said the investigations into the municipalities are at an advanced stage.
“This is the beginning and all the other cases are receiving the necessary attention.”
Mogale said more suspects are expected to be arrested during the course of the investigation as about 20 municipalities in Limpopo, North West and Gauteng lost nearly R1.6 billion after illegally investing with the bank.
IOL