CLOSING IN ON THE HEIST

HERE was no brandishing of guns, no terrified customers lying on the floor, no screech of tyres from getaway vehicles. Still, it remains one of the biggest and most brazen bank heists in South African history.

With the help of a sophisticated network of bank employees, top executives and accountants at VBS bank siphoned off billions, padding their own pockets with money belonging to SA’s poorest and most vulnerable people.

Over a period of four years an entire bank was stolen – and even in a country wearied by corruption, this was gob-smacking.

The story broke in 2018 and was dubbed the scandal of the year. And then, as things often tend to do, it