Zelda Venter|Published2 hours agoHow a bank error turned a gambler’s six-day spree into R2.6 million in debt

A six-day online gambling spree has cost a gambler dearly, as he has been placed under provisional sequestration as he is unable to pay back the R2.6 million he owes the bank. A gambler has found himself in deep trouble after accumulating a staggering R2.6 million in debt during a six-day online gambling spree. This financial chaos was made possible by an internal system error at Investec Bank, which allowed him to exceed his authorised credit limit of R150,000.

As Investec Bank seeks to recover its money, the gambler, known only as VZ, claims that the bank’s “reckless credit” practices enabled him to access more credit than he could afford. The bank turned to the Western Cape High Court, where it applied for VZ’s provisional sequestration. It held that the man is insolvent and the only way the bank can get its money back is by placing his estate under sequestration.

According to the bank, the man owes it slightly more than R2.6 million, together with interest calculated at a prime rate of 11% per annum calculated daily from March last year, to date of final payment. The respondent earlier successfully applied for a Private Bank Account (PBA) with Investec with a credit limit of R150,000, subject to terms and conditions.In February last year, Investec implemented a change into its internal system. The respondent earlier successfully applied for a Private Bank Account (PBA) with Investec with a credit limit of R150,000, subject to terms and conditions.

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In February last year, Investec implemented a change into its internal system. This deployment disabled the balance-check function for tokenised transactions. It allowed transactions to be processed through a token rather than directly using card details.As a result, on the evening of February 5 last year, Investec made an error of successfully processing all its client tokenised transactions regardless of whether the client has a sufficient balance or has a limit on their account.

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