Phillip Truter, the first person to be sentenced for his role in the grand looting of VBS Mutual Bank, was released on parole, the Department of Correctional Services revealed.
The publication reported last week that Truter, who was the doomed bank’s chief financial officer, admitted that he was part of the group of people who were involved in the massive theft of VBS Mutual Bank funds.
In 2020, Truter was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three years suspended.
Speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika on Monday, Department of Correctional Services’ national spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Truter was released in April.
“Mr Truter was admitted after that conviction and he then started serving the sentence. He was given a 10-year sentence with three years suspended for a period of five years, meaning that he had to serve a seven-year term,” said Nxumalo.
“He did serve the sentence, and after reaching the minimum detention period as per Section 72 of the Correctional Services Act, he was then considered for parole. Eventually, the parole board did place him out (on parole) on April 12 2024.”
He said Truter benefited from the special remission of sentence regime, which saw only two months of his incarceration being removed.
“That would have been three years and six months that he reached on April 6, 2024. Yes, he did benefit from the special remission of sentence but that was very minimal. He only benefited by two months. So it really didn’t count much,” said Nxumalo.
“It did assist him in terms of what is left of the entire sentence, as the seven years that was given will expire on October 6, 2025.”
Nxumalo said currently, Truter is being monitored by the department while he is on parole.
Truter received R5 million of the R2 billion allegedly looted from the mutual bank, and was convicted after he pleaded guilty on charges of fraud, corruption, racketeering, theft, and money laundering in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Gauteng.
In 2020, the publication reported that the National Prosecuting Authority said Truter will spend an effective seven years behind bars for his role in the scandal which saw some R1.89 billion looted from the bank between 2015 and 2018, prompting its collapse.
Truter offered his full cooperation to the State prosecution.
“He was complicit and active during the VBS debacle as has decided to come clean,” the NPA said in a statement, after the sentence was handed down.
Last week, the publication reported that Tshifhiwa Matodzi, the former VBS chairperson and mastermind behind the looting of the R2 billion of defunct VBS Mutual Bank, has been sentenced to 495 years of direct imprisonment.
Matodzi, 47, was sentenced on Wednesday in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
He has been described as the kingpin of a scheme that robbed pensioners and cash-strapped municipalities of their deposits with the bank.
He was charged with corruption, theft, fraud, money laundering, and a pattern of racketeering activities that culminated in the downfall of VBS Mutual Bank.
Gauteng spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks, Katlego Mogale, said Matodzi pleaded guilty to 33 charges and entered into a plea agreement with the State.
-IOL
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