27 Oct 2024

Francistown Magistrate Court, Magistrate Ditebogo Ntuli will tomorrow deliver a bail ruling that involves two Chinese Nationals who were found in possession of over P7 million they could not account for.

The duo, Cheng Zheng (40) and Jinlong Mai (33)  are facing a single charge of being in a possession of stolen property. They were apprehended at a roadblock near Tatisiding the previous Sunday, where authorities discovered the considerable sum of money in their possession.

Detective Sub Inspector Misani Modise from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed the court, that the source of the funds remains unverified to date.

Inspector Modise emphasised concerns that if the two were granted bail, they might interfere with ongoing investigations or evade justice altogether, especially given the substantial amount involved.

He requested a 14-day remand to further investigate the matter.

In contrast, defence attorneys, Mr Malike Mmohe and Kesegofetse Molosiwa argued for the release of  their clients on bail.

Mr Mmohe also urged the court to consider suspending the 14-day request by the investigating officer, asserting that the investigation could continue concurrently without delaying their release.

He also said the two are not flight risk, and therefore the court should consider giving them conditional bail.

Currently, the unaccounted-for money remains in the custody of the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) for further investigation. The two remain in custody until then. Ends