30 Jul 2020

An ongoing trial at the Gaborone High Court before Judge Mokwadi Gabanagae has adjourned until August 7 to give a statement witness time to recover from the ordeal of burglary.

Asking for adjournment, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Priscilla Israel said the investigating officer, Mr Kentse Setaboshane suffered trauma following a burglary incident at his house on Wednesday night.

Mr Setlaboshane of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) is the investigating officer in a case involving former Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP) Carter Morupisi, R7 Group and Pinny Morupisi. The first accused, Morupisi, is facing two counts of corruption, while he has also been jointly charged with R7 Group and Pinny on a count of money laundering.

He started giving his evidence in chief on Wednesday. However, when the case resumed yesterday morning, the prosecution asked for a short adjournment as the witnesses started experiencing some notable difficulty in relaying his evidence.

As such, the prosecution informed the court that the witness has suffered a burglary incident and therefore his mind was affected by the ordeal. “We, therefore, ask for the postponement for the witness to recollect as he has suffered psychological challenge as a result of the incident,” said Ms Israel. The trial will continue on August 6 and 7.

Prior to the postponement, the investigating officer revealed that documents relating to the tender, which resulted in Capital Management Botswana (CMB) signing with Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) as private equity manager, were never discovered. Mr Setlaboshane said, “The investigating team requested for the tender document, list of bidders and evaluation documents and they were never availed as they were nowhere to be found.”

Mr Setlaboshane, an investigator with DCEC said sometimes in 2017, a report was received by the DCEC, alleging that CMB was misappropriating funds belonging to BPOPF.

He said in 2018,“We then received another tip off alleging that the then Chairperson of BPOPF board of trustees, Carter Morupisi had a beneficial interest in a company called CMB, which was being considered as asset managers by BPOPF.”

Mr Setlaboshane said the investigations revealed that BPOPF had entered into a business deal with CMB, a company under the directorship of Timothy Marsland and Rapula Okaile.

He said the partnership was managed through a company called Botswana Opportunity Partnership (BOP)  that was mandated to look for potential investment partners on behalf of BPOPF.

Mr Setlaboshane revealed that BPOPF released P500 million for investment. He further revealed that some of the initial transactions released through BOP were P150 million towards buying shares at Wilderness Safari, another P150 million for buying 60 per cent of Kawena Holdings and P50 million for purchasing 50 per cent shares at Cell City.  Another P50 million, he said, was to establish a private school called Agile.

The investigating officer said his team also established that the contract that was alleged to have been signed without the authority of the board was done on November 11, 2014. Mr Setlaboshane also revealed that Morupisi never signed a declaration form during board forums discussing matters relating to CMB despite the allegation that he had beneficial interest in the company.

As the investigating team was engaged at CMB, Mr Setlaboshane said the investigators discovered that Okaile owned 25 per cent of CMB while Capital Management Africa owned by Timothy Marsland had 75 per cent of the company. “Okaile joined CMB replacing Rhyss Carr,” he said.

Even though cited as having a beneficial interest in CMB, Mr Setlaboshane said there was no information linking Morupisi with the company.

The investigating team also established that, when Morupisi was Director at the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM), he worked with Okaile and at one point the latter served as an executive secretary to the former.

Further into the investigations, Mr Setlaboshane said the investigators discovered that CMB directors bought a Toyota Land Cruiser for R7 Group. He said P150 million was released by BPOPF to be invested at Kawena Holdings as per the agreement.

“About P124 million of the P150 million was diverted from BOP account to CMB Fund 1. Another P50 million that was catered for establishing a private school also went into CMB Fund 1 account. From CMB Fund 1, P33 million (about R44 million) was transferred to Manor Squad bank account in South Africa,” he said.

Mr Setlaboshane said by then, Okaile was one of the directors at Manor Squad Services.

The investigating officer said the team also established that more than P633 000 was transferred from Manor Squad Services account to CNH Toyota Alberton to acquire a Land Cruiser.

He said Manor Squad Services was never identified as one of the investment partners under the BPOPF and CMB deal.

He said the Land Cruiser, which was the subject of the investigations, was brought to Botswana by Okaile, who arranged the transfer of its ownership to R7 Group. ENDS