Ex-VBS CFO Philip Truter To Plead Guilty In VBS Scandal, Assist In Investigations

The State said that former VBS Mutual Bank CFO Philip Truter would plead guilty and assist with investigations into the looting of the bank.

Truter was granted R50,000 bail in the Palm Ridge Commercial Crimes Court after saying that he was unemployed and could not get a job.

Lawyer WJ Hattingh read Truter’s affidavit in which he said that he was sorry for the hardship that VBS Mutual Bank had caused its depositors and he took responsibility for his actions.

Unlike his seven former colleagues, the eighth VBS accused, Truter, had not denied any wrongdoing.

Instead, he wanted to assist the prosecution with investigations as a witness.

He said that he could not afford to pay lawyers and no one would give him a job because of the VBS Mutual Bank scandal.

He sobbed in the dock as his wife’s affidavit was read.

In it, she painted a picture of a broken man who was often unwell physically and struggled emotionally.

Truter could not appear last month as he was under COVID-19 quarantine but now his wife said that he would be admitted for psychiatric treatment.

She said that she earned a R12,000 net salary per month and they had to depend on family and the church for food, nappies and soy milk for their baby, who had allergies.

Under Truter’s watch, the bank was robbed of about R2.7 billion of depositor’s money.

He will appear again with his co-accused on 8 October.

EWN