Indications are that Tshifiwa Matodzi was the directing brain behind the theft, and also made away with most of the stolen funds.

The VBS bank scandal made headlines again this week when Tshifiwa Matodzi, former chairman of the VBS Mutual Bank board, pleaded guilty in the Gauteng High Court on Wednesday to 33 counts of corruption, theft, fraud, money laundering and a pattern of racketeering activities.

Matodzi was sentenced to 495 years - or 15 years on each count. The sentences will run concurrently, so he will only serve an effective 15 years behind bars. This will serve as cold comfort to the victims of the elaborate almost R2-billion bank heist, who have not and are never likely to recover financially.

A report by advocate Terry Motau and Werksmans Attorneys, compiled for the SA Reserve Bank, showed that the amount of R1,894,923,674 was gratuitously received from VBS by around 53 "persons of interest", both natural and juristic, over the period 1 March 2015 to 17 June 2018.

Netting Matodzi is a big coup for the NPA, and potentially a huge problem for the VBS crooks. It is unclear at this stage whether Matodzi will turn State witness, but based on the plea deal and the relatively lenient sentence, our sources think it is likely.

Based on Daily Maverick investigations into VBS,...