Standard Bank says it is not aware of any criminal charges relating to Anele Mngadi, as it has not been approached by any law enforcement agency.
Mngadi was trending on social media platforms X and TikTok on Tuesday for speaking up about the alleged fraud committed by the bank when she purchased her luxury Rolls-Royce vehicle from a dealership a decade ago.
Her 13-part video series on social media includes allegations of assault by hitmen, robbery, poisoning, bribery of law enforcement and more.
Investigation finds no wrongdoing
Standard Bank told The Citizen it is aware of the allegations, and an investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.
“Standard Bank is aware of allegations relating to the financing of a luxury vehicle more than a decade ago,” said the biggest lender in Africa.
“These allegations have been investigated, and we are satisfied that they are false and without merit.”
According to Mngadi’s videos and a document titled “David vs Goliath: The Powerful Abusing the Vulnerable“, she said the issue began when she wanted to purchase a Rolls-Royce in cash using money from her Swiss bank account, as at the time she was residing in Switzerland full-time.
However, the dealership returned the money, resulting in her taking out vehicle finance from Standard Bank using her foundation, as she was not domiciled in South Africa at the time.
@profanelehammond22 #financialethics #bankfraud #standardbankZA #bankingombudsman #NationalCreditAct ♬ original sound – profanelehammond22
Trouble begins
Once the bank approved the loan, trouble allegedly started. She claimed that the bank had debited nearly twice the agreed instalment amount several times, prompting her to ask Standard Bank for the signed instalment sale agreement. However, she was allegedly told she does not have vehicle finance with the bank.
“The problem started when the first instalment was deducted, as it was double the agreed amount. Anele complained for three months in vain, asking the bank to correct this ‘oversight’,” reads the document.
“Anele then served Standard Bank with a letter of demand for a copy of the instalment signed agreement, redirecting all future monthly instalments into a separate account,” Mngadi alleges that after three months, she received a letter from the bank, stating the car had not been paid; however, to her surprise, the letter was addressed to her daughter.
Mngadi said she went to the bank to try to address the issue of ownership, but she was later issued a summons to repossess the car. That is when she got a copy of the signed instalment sale agreement from the bank.
She alleges it was a completely different one than the one she signed, as it was from a dealership she had never dealt with, and several other details had been changed, including forgery of her signature, the price of the car was inflated, the VIN number and model year were different from the car she purchased.
Vehicle finance agreement above board
When asked about these allegations, Standard Bank stated: “While we are limited in what we can disclose about confidential agreements with individual customers, we can confirm that the vehicle finance agreement in question was concluded in full compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements.”
Mngadi alleges she approached the bank with concerns about the instalment sale agreement; however, no solution emerged from the meeting, as she was told it was the agreement she had signed. She accused the bank of getting an acting Judge to sign off on the default judgment, allowing it to repossess the car.
But she refused to let the bank take the car. Mngadi also opened a fraud case, case number 685/04/2017, at the Sandton Police Station, according to her document.
Forgery of signature
Another allegation made by Mngadi is that a forensic laboratory appointed by the South African Police Services (Saps) revealed that her signature was forged in the agreement. The Citizen has reached out to Saps to confirm the case number and the forgery of the signature.
Mngadi alleged that one day she found at least nine men in her house. She said they beat her up and told her she must retract the fraud case against Standard Bank. She alleged this happened several times, each time before she was set to appear in court.
“Anele’s home was robbed before every court appearance, she was beaten to a pulp with a demand that she withdraw the criminal charge against Standard Bank and her legal documents [were] seized with an AK-47 shoved down her throat,” read the document.
“On the last occasion, the robbers forced her to write a suicide note, then hanged her with a thick rope. Anele was saved by the police, just in time, reported under CAS 86/07/2017, and another violent incident where all her documentation was seized, CAS 174/4/22.”
Standard Bank denies allegations
When asked about the allegations of assault and intimidation, the bank said, “The allegations are false and without merit.”
In one of the videos, she alleged moving to a hotel because she feared for her life, but only for her daughter to be poisoned the day before she had to appear in court. When arriving at court the following day, the judge allegedly postponed the hearing because her daughter was fighting for her life in the hospital.
The Citizen could not find court papers to confirm these claims. Standard Bank said it is not aware of any of the cases Mngadi has mentioned.
“We have not been approached by law enforcement on any criminal charges in relation to this matter, and neither are we aware of any pending criminal cases,” said the bank. “Therefore, we have not appeared before court for any fraud or assault charges.”