E181 453 VANISHES FROM FARMER’S ACCOUNT

MATSETSA – After recovering from a serious illness that had kept him bedridden for almost two years, all Velaphi Amos Mvubu (61) wanted to do was to rebuild his life.

While still confined to a bed, battling tuberculosis (TB), he had lost the rights to grow sugar cane at his late father’s farm located at Vuvulane. However, he was hoping to use his savings to rebuild his life and to challenge those family members who had removed him as a successor to his late father’s cane growing business.

 Before Mvubu had become seriously ill, a sum of E181 453.86 had been deposited into his bank account on October 5, 2012.
This was payment for the sugar cane he had supplied to a sugar mill, during the 2011/12 harvesting season.

Statement

Mvubu said he did not withdraw even a cent as he was already sick and unable to move out of the house at the time the money was deposited.
“Another reason I did not withdraw the money was that, I was told that I no longer had access to the funds because I had been removed as head of the farm,” he said. Mvubu was bedridden between 2012 and 2014. He recovered in 2015 and spent the entire year battling with a faction of his family that had removed him as head of the family farm.

In 2016, Mvubu decided to check his bank balance and he got the shock of his life when he discovered a negative balance. This was his personal bank account and he was the only authorised signatory for every transaction involving the account. “I was gutted when I discovered that there was no money in the bank account.

When I enquired from the bank teller, she suggested that I should obtain a bank statement, so I could review all the transactions that had taken place,” Mvubu said. He said when he went through the bank statement, he was shocked to find that some transactions had taken place while he was bedridden.

One transaction which shocked him the most, was the withdrawal of E35 000 which took place on September 25, 2013, as reflected on the bank statements.
“When I questioned the bank management about this withdrawal, they told me that I was the one who had withdrawn this money.

“I insisted that on this day I was bedridden but they were adamant that I was the one who withdrew the money,” said Mvubu. He said the bank management issued him with a copy of a withdrawal slip, which had his particulars.
To his surprise, there was a right thumb-print in on the space reserved for signatures. Mvubu said the bank management told him that he had signed the withdrawal slip using his right thumb.

However, Mvubu was adamant that he did not withdraw the money and that he was not the one who had filled the particulars on the withdrawal slip.
“I then proceeded to the police to open a case of fraud because it seemed somebody had used my particulars to unlawfully withdraw money from my account,” Mvubu said.At the police station, investigating officers took his fingerprints manually, using ink and paper.

Investigation

Mvubu said the officers explained to him that this was done to compare his fingerprints and the ones appearing on the bank withdrawal slips. All this was done about a year ago but till today, Mvubu has not received any feedback from the police.

There is no suspect even though he shared with the investigating officers names of individuals he suspected could have unlawfully withdrawn his money.
In total, Mvubus said he lost E181 453.86. He said the money was withdrawn on different dates between 2012 and 2015.

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