Morupisi, wife in trial final showdown
Mpho Mokwape | Monday December 13, 2021 06:00
Morupisi is charged with three counts of abuse of office, acceptance of bribe by a public officer and money laundering while the wife is charged with one count of money laundering. The offences are alleged to be in connection with the misappropriation of funds from the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF), the biggest pension fund in the country.
At the time the offences were allegedly committed, Morupisi was the chairperson of the fund's board and they are accused of using the pension fund for their own personal gain by buying a Toyota Land Cruiser for the wife’s company. Now, state and Morupisi will today make final submissions as the long trial comes to an end. According to the State that is gunning for a conviction for the pair, Morupisi laundered money between his account and a company called Manor Squad Services that purchased the vehicle on his behalf. The State alleges that there were many transactions that happened between an account held by Morupisi and Manor Squad. According to the description of the company, which was said to have received considerable amount from BPOPF and Capital Management Botswana (CMB), Manor Squad is registered in South Africa and at the time of the alleged offices one of its directors was Rapula Okaile, the former director of CMB.
“The company developed properties called Manor Gardens in Durban sometime in 2016 and this company according to the forensics received several transfers of money in millions from CMB in 2016 and that it received about seven transactions on different occasions from Morupisi’s account, of which the total amount was about P211,520.64 meant to pay for a Toyota Land Cruiser,” alleged state. The Cruiser was apparently purchased at a total of P630,988.99, alleged to be proceeds of crime, as these were funds from BPOPF and CMB.
In all the many transactions carried including those of BPOPF and CMB, Morupisi is alleged to have authorised CMB to administer the BPOPF funds and in the process obtained valuable consideration for himself and his wife’s company. He is accused of acting together with the wife in her personal capacity and as the director of R7 Group to receive a valuable consideration to wit the land cruiser for himself and his wife’s company. Meanwhile, Morupisi has denied getting money from BPOPF and that there was paper trail as to how he was able to purchase the vehicle for his wife.
He explained that there was absolutely nothing criminal that he did, and that he signed some papers only because he was obliged to sign the agreement on behalf of BPOPF in terms of the rules of the fund.
The accused persons say the State’s case had been destined to fail from the beginning because it was built on wild and startling suspicions and also failure to handle exhibits properly. “All other witnesses who were called had no knowledge of the key events at BPOPF which led to the charge before court. The state failed to call the following material witnesses who were there as the events unfolded, being Lesedi Moakofhi who was the acting CEO and signed a contract and Emmah Peloetletse who was a trustee and later chairperson of the finance and investment committee,” said Morupisi.
Both accused persons pray for no conviction as the case closes. Attorney Busang Manewe led the defence team for the accused persons while Priscilla Israel leads prosecution.