When the bank abruptly went into curatorship in March 2018, no one had any reason to doubt that it was just another unfortunate corporate failure. Then the astonishing truth emerged: the collapse of VBS was due to an epic R2-billion fraud that had created Vele’s empire out of thin air and left the bank a hollow shell. VBS: A Dream Defrauded unravels the fraud, exploring how mastermind Tshifhiwe Matodzi and his associates first took control of VBS, fed off ANC patronage networks and operated under a nationalist mantle endorsed by Venda royalty. The book explains how the bank and its shareholder Vele were seemingly built into a multibillion-rand business; exposes the political machinations that guaranteed VBS up to R3.5 billion in unlawful funding from municipalities and other state institutions; and describes the free-for-all that ensued after the bank’s collapse when all involved tried to cover their tracks.

Written by one of the journalists who first broke the story, this is a compelling account of a bank heist whose shockwaves continue to haunt the politicians, businessmen and traditional leaders who enabled it