Zelda Venter|Updated10 minutes agoGambler blames bank after racking up R2.6 million debt in six day online casino spree

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 who racked up R2.6 million in debtfollowing an online gambling spree over six days, exceeding his authorised R150 000 credit limit with Investec Bank due to an internal system error on behalf of the bank, will now have to face the music. following an online gambling spree over six days, exceeding his authorised R150 000 credit limit with Investec Bank due to an internal system error on behalf of the bank, will now have to face the music.

Investec Bank now wants its money back, but the gambler, only identified as VZ (respondent), is unable to repay his debt. He instead accused the bank of “reckless credit” practices by allowing him to access so much credit while he cannot afford it. 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.

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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. 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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