20 Aug 2017

A 29 year old man of Phase IV in Gaborone Keitumetse Taolo has appeared before magistrate court over charges of giving false information to a person employed in the public service.

Taolo who is the first accused is charged together with his company Tlou Holdings propriety as its managing director. The company Tlou Holdings Propriety is facing the second charge of providing false documents.

The charge sheet states that the two accused provided false information to North West District Council officer who presided over a tender committee Mr Bethuel Tlhotlhole on August 2014.

Meanwhile, Taolo who is represented by Mr Charles Tlagae of Charles Tlagae Attorney’s bail application ruling was postponed by Maun magistrate Mmoloki Sibanda.

Arguing the bail application for the defendant, attorney Tlagae argued that the two offences attracted a maximum sentence of about seven years maximum.

However, Mr Tlagae said Taolo should be granted bail since he was a businessman of repute who dealt with government on numerous contracts which might suffer if remanded in custody.

He said Taolo as the managing director of Tlou Holdings Propriety was an employer of many people therefore being remanded in custody would affect his business contracts, the company as well as employees.

Mr Tlagae said the accused was a reliable person although he missed his first appearance before the courts on July 13.

He said his client had gone for a business trip to South Africa on July 12, but missed his flight which affected his trip schedule resulting in him returning to Botswana on July 14.

However, Mr Tlagae said Taolo went to the Directorate of Corruption of Economic Crime (DCEC) offices upon arrival in Botswana to report himself on his individual capacity.

However, the Directorate on Public Prosecution Officer, Mr Gopolang Tlhabologang argued against the bail application.

Mr Tlhabologang said the state was concerned about the accused’s conduct not the charges in its stance to disagree with the bail application.

He said the accused was a ‘flight risk’ as records from the Department of Immigration proved that Taolo had two valid passports in his possession whose validity expired in 2020 and 2027 respectively.

The accused, he said travelled by road using vehicle on the date in question when he failed to appear in court contrary to the defence’s views.

Mr Tlhabologang also said the defence should have furnished the court with evidence which showed the magnitude of the accused’s business contracts and employees as alluded to.

He said there was no how the accused would have financial obligations in relation to the charges before the court since the charges were in relation to a contract which was awarded and completed in 2014; construction of houses at Matlapana primary school in Maun.

Mr Tlhabologang therefore argued that the bail application should be dismissed stressing that the accused was not trustworthy.

For his part, Mr Tlagae argued that the first passport in question had exhausted all pages by April 2017 and returned to the immigration office.

Magistrate Sibanda said the court would need some time to wrap up the submissions and amke ruling on the matter. ENDS