Phone recording between Auckland businessman Carel Vijoen and a Westpac bank employee discussing suspicious transactions in and out of his account.
Auckland businessman Carel Johannes Viljoen laundered nearly $2 million and faces up to seven years’ imprisonment.
Westpac is accused of negligence for allowing Viljoen to transfer stolen money overseas despite red flags.
Brother promises $1.3m compensation for victims, while Viljoen seeks a discharge without conviction.
An Auckland businessman who recklessly laundered nearly $2 million as part of an investment scam says he hopes to compensate his victims but can’t pay reparation himself after spending at least $100,000 on legal fees.
South African-born Beca costing expert Carel JohannesViljoen said he has been placed on “discretionary leave” by the company while his bosses assess fallout from his criminal trial.
The 61-year-old said he knew he would be found guilty after listening to the Crown’s closing address and claims his brother has promised to stump up compensation for two victims who lost their life savings – one of whom is now dead.
The Australian-owned bank is accused of negligence after staff agreed to increase Viljoen’s transfer limit so he could send the stolen money overseas, despite concerns about potential “red flags”.
Consumer NZ has labelled Westpac’s action “appalling” and said the case reflects terribly on the bank, while a financial commentator said Westpac looks “sloppy”.
Viljoen faces up to seven years’ imprisonment after being found guilty this month.
He maintains he did not know he was involved in criminal activity and said his brother has agreed to provide $1.3m to compensate victims Steven Fan and the late Anthony Lipanovic for their unrecovered losses.
“He got me into this in the first place. It’s just how quickly he can get the funds together,” Viljoen said.
“I don’t know how much he has available and I really don’t care as long as he pays.”
Viljoen part-owns his Auckland house but said he has insufficient equity to cover reparation costs.
Northland man Steven Fan lost $1 million in a complex investment scam.
The court heard he agreed to act as a “middle man” after being introduced to the scammers via the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp.
Viljoen was sent a contract and agreed to receive payments into his Westpac account from “investors” before transferring the money offshore, receiving a commission for each transaction.
The trial heard he visited Westpac with a copy of the contract and advised staff about the arrangement. He asked to increase his daily transfer limit to $1m.
A staff member checked with her supervisor, who told her, “It’s his money, he can do whatever he wants”.
The woman increased Viljoen’s limit, telling him it was “okay” to proceed with the payment. But at the same time, she filed a suspicious activity report to Westpac’s anti-money laundering team because of her concerns.
It is unclear what happened to the report but Westpac only learned of the fraudulent activity weeks later from another bank.
Financial commentator Janine Starks told the Herald Westpac’s actions were “negligence to the eyeballs”.
She said banks were obligated to carry out “enhanced due diligence” to confirm the source of funds when processing large transfers that were out of character for customers.
“When your customer can’t explain the source of the funds you need to then put a formal suspicious activity report to police, and banks also have the ability to freeze the account if they think there’s illegal activity.”
Starks said it appeared Westpac did not receive any proof from Viljoen other than his word.
In her opinion, bank staff had “dropped the ball”.
Financial commentator Janine Starks says banks have an obligation to carry out proper due diligence. Photo / Alex Burton
“What lengths did they go to to say, ‘Can you prove what the business source is for those funds? Where did it come from? Why are they paying it to your account?’
“You don’t have somebody just walk in and suddenly have these amounts of money cropping up when he has a day job at Beca. There needs to be some proof.”
Despite Westpac’s failure, she said the victims were at a “dead end” because the Banking Ombudsman could not investigate receiving banks and most people could not afford to take civil action.
However, Westpac could suffer PR damage, Starks said.
“In terms of brand protection they just look so sloppy. In this case they’ve actually told a money mule they can keep receiving money. They have a massive ethical liability.
“That creates terrible brand damage. I think they need to front up and say, ‘That went really wrong’.”
Consumer NZ head of advocacy Jessica Walker was also critical.
“This is an appalling case that reflects terribly on Westpac. Sadly ... as a recipient bank, Westpac has no liability. It’s telling that Westpac has acknowledged it would now do things differently, but that’s no comfort to the victims.”
A Westpac spokesman said the bank had invested heavily in new processes and training to help staff identify suspicious activity and protect customers.
“There were aspects of this case that we would now handle differently.”
‘I never touch a cent’
Viljoen told the Herald he had hoped to be acquitted because of Westpac’s actions but knew he would be found guilty after listening to the Crown’s closing address.
Prosecutor Taniela-Afu Veikune told the jury Westpac’s alleged failures were irrelevant. The central issue was whether Viljoen was “reckless” as to whether the huge cash deposits were the proceeds of a crime.
Viljoen now hopes to receive a discharge without conviction but said that decision lay with the judge.
He said felt bad for the victims and didn’t sign up to steal anyone’s money.
Beca costings expert Carel Johannes Viljoen was found guilty of two counts of money laundering in connection with two victims who lost a combined $2 million to an elaborate offshore investment scam. Photo / Alyse Wright
Though Beca had put him on leave, he hoped to return to work next month.
“They have indicated that I’m still coming back to work when the dust has settled, but who knows?”
He said his offending had no bearing on his professional work costing large infrastructure projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“I never touch a cent.”
A senior Beca manager filed an affidavit in 2023 supporting Viljoen’s continued suppression, arguing the company needed his unique skills and could suffer reputational harm if he was named in connection with money laundering charges.
The Herald asked Beca whether it was appropriate to continue employing a money launderer and whether the company informed clients of the charges before Viljoen’s trial when he still had suppression.
The company refused to comment, saying it was not at liberty to discuss employment matters.
Lane Nichols is Auckland Desk Editor and a senior journalist for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
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