Former VBS Mutual Bank auditor receives lifetime practice ban
Sipho Malaba was fined R10.8m and found guilty on eight charges including signing off on VBS accounts despite evidence of corruption.
Former VBS Mutual Bank auditor receives lifetime practice ban
Sipho Malaba was fined R10.8m and found guilty on eight charges including signing off on VBS accounts despite evidence of corruption.
The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors has banned Sipho Malaba from practising as an auditor for life and imposed fines totalling R10.8m following his role in the collapse of VBS Mutual Bank.12
Malaba, who served as lead auditor of VBS while employed as a senior auditor at KPMG, was found guilty on eight charges by an IRBA panel.12 The charges included signing off on an unmodified audit report for VBS in the 2017 financial year despite what the regulator described as serious evidence of corruption.12
The panel found that Malaba had received more than R25m in loans from VBS, which the regulator characterised as gratification intended to help conceal corruption at the mutual bank.12 VBS collapsed after R2bn was allegedly stolen from the institution.12
Beyond his role at VBS, Malaba was convicted of "ghost auditing" the Industrial Development Corporation and medical scheme Spectramed, which the IRBA said demonstrated a systematic disregard for his professional obligations.12
The R10.8m in penalties comprised a R1.6m fine and R9.2m in costs.12 Malaba did not participate in the IRBA disciplinary process.12
The IRBA panel stated that the VBS charge was "in a league of its own" given the impact on rural communities in Limpopo, including depositors who had placed their savings with the bank.12
VBS Mutual Bank, which primarily served customers in Limpopo province, was placed under curatorship in 2018 after the South African Reserve Bank intervened. Thousands of depositors, including municipalities and burial societies, lost access to their funds.