A Joburg businesswoman who claims she was duped by an accountant referred to her by her bank faces having her car repossessed by the same bank.
Vuyi Mpofu, a budding entrepreneur, claims she was introduced to the accountant, Rajen Sanjay, by her Absa small business relationship manager on the bank's premises. She had a unique business idea that needed to be trademarked.
According to Mpofu, the relationship manager said she had referred Sanjay to other clients, and promised to arrange a meeting when he was next in the building. Mpofu said she met with Sanjay in the bank's boardroom on several occasions.
She paid him R5 000 to apply for a trademark, and he gave her a certificate from the Department of Trade and Industry. He also provided her with a letter from Standard Bank authorising a R1-million loan.
Confident that she had the trademark protection and start-up capital to fund her business idea, Mpofu began approaching potential funders.
But a year later she received a call to say she'd been living a lie.
Sanjay had been arrested for fraud after another Absa client alerted the police. The documents he had given her were fake. There was no trademark protection and no money.
A devastated Mpofu had spent months presenting her business idea to potential funders. She had incurred debt and lost credibility and was left with no way to service her debt. She had to start from scratch.
Now, the bank has threatened to repossess her car.
Mpofu says she doesn't dispute her financial obligations towards Absa, but she needs some breathing space to put her life back together. She has asked for six weeks.
She has also appealed to the banking ombudsman, but it takes 21 days to get a response.
Absa meanwhile said it was investigating the matter, and would meet with Mpofu. The bank said it adhered to strict banking legislative and regulatory standards to protect the interests of its clients.
Meanwhile First National Bank says it does not give clients referrals. Standard Bank also does not support the practice of any staff member making business referrals to any client.
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