The fall of Morupisi recap
Mpho Mokwape | Monday March 18, 2024 06:00
Morupisi, who began as a civil servant in the Ministry of Agriculture in the 80s, seemed as if he was destined to retire with a clean and remarkable record.
That was until his life’s work tumbled down in 2019 when he was linked to allegations of missing funds from the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) under the management of the Capital Management Botswana (CMB).
At the time, the former PSP was also the chairman of the BPOPF Board of Directors and around P450 million was said to have gone missing from the public pension fund. During investigations carried out by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), many links to the missing funds were uncovered.
Some of the money was alleged to have entered the hands of Morupisi in the form of the acquisition of a Toyota Land Cruiser.
It was revealed that the Land Cruiser was bought for R630, 388.99 from South Africa through a CMB-related company called Manor Squad. At the time, one of three Manor Squad directors was CMB Chief Executive Officer, Rapula Okaile, and the pair was alleged to have some sought of ties.
The Land Cruiser was alleged to have been first registered by a garage in South Africa on May 15, 2017 and delivered to the Manor Squad where it was later driven to Botswana by Okaile. Months later, it was alleged to have been registered under R7 Group, a company owned by the Morupisis.
Armed with all this information, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) instituted proceedings against Morupisi and his wife, Pinny. In the process, the couple was charged with corruption and money laundering, but Pinny was later exonerated by the court.
The charges that Morupisi faced were; corruption contrary to Section 24A (1) of Corruption and Economic Crime Act, Laws of Botswana as read with Section 24 A (3) of Corruption and Economic Crime Act.
The particulars of the offence were that Morupisi, whilst employed as Director of DPSM serving as a Public officer who held the position of Board chairperson for the BPOPF, on or about November 11, 2014, without the final resolution of the Board and in abuse of public office as a chairperson of the BPOPF and whilst the business of the Board was on suspension by a court order, corruptly signed a contract with CMB on behalf of the BPOPF authorising CMB to administer BPOPF funds as private equity managers and in the process obtained a valuable consideration for himself and his wife’s company, R7 Group.
The second count of corruption was said to be contrary to Section 26 of the Corruption and Economic Crime Act as read with Section 36 of the same Act.
The particulars of the offence were that Morupisi, whilst employed as PSP, and as such being a public officer who held the position of Board chairperson of the BPOPF and having signed a contract with the CMB on behalf of the BPOPF, authorising the CMB to administer the BPOPF funds as private equity managers without the final resolution of the Board and whilst the business of the Board was on suspension by court order, on or about May 15, 2017, acting together and in concert with his wife, Pinny, in her personal capacity and in her capacity as the director of R7 Group, received a valuable consideration, to wit; a gold Toyota Land Cruiser.
On the third count, the three accused persons, Carter, Pinny and R7 Group were charged with the offence of money laundering contrary to Section 47(1) (b) of the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act punishable under Section 47(3) of the same Act.
The particulars of the offence were that Morupisi, Pinny and the R7 Group, a company duly registered and incorporated in terms of the Botswana laws, represented Pinny, as its director, on or about May 15, 2017, acting jointly and in concert, received and converted to their personal use, a Toyota Land Cruiser pickup, bought from South Africa whilst they knew or had reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting that the said Toyota Land Cruiser was derived or bought, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from the commission of an offence.
At the time of the trial, the State had mobilised about 30 witnesses as three were dropped along the way with a view to proving its case against the accused persons and at the close of the defence case and following the submissions by both parties, the court a quo convicted him of all the three counts while his wife Pinny and her R7 Group were discharged and acquitted.
State’s Case
The prosecution’s case was that the motor vehicle was offered to the Morupisis after it had been bought by proceeds derived from money obtained as a result of his illicit signing of a contract on behalf of the BPOPF and the CMB. “It is the State evidence that Morupisi having signed the contract and money having been obtained, he received a valuable consideration in the form of a motor vehicle, which motor vehicle he concealed,” the State had alleged during trial.
According to the State, Morupisi alleged that he bought the motor vehicle from a company named Manor Squad Services facilitated by Okaile. It apparently emerged that the same Okaile was a director for the company. The prosecution submitted that the purported agreement of sale between Manor Squad Services and the R7 Group represented by Morupisi was proven to be nothing but a ‘scam’ and also that it is a mere façade hiding the hands of all the accused persons (including Morupisi).
“The fact that the supposed agreement of sale, as alleged by the accused, raises eyebrows because the purported loan was interest-free. The repayment of the alleged used motor vehicle in the purported agreement of a sale was payment of R40, 000.00 yearly. Such interest-free loan was to be paid over 14 years for yearly instalments with no deposit or security in a foreign country really beats logic,” said State.
Morupisi’s case
Morupisi has maintained his innocence throughout explaining in detail how he obtained the Toyota Land Cruiser he was accused of obtaining through the proceeds of BPOPF. He maintained that there was evidence of how he bought the vehicle and that there was a contract of sale and 16 payments in furtherance of the contract. “The funds were all coming from my accounts including the one I held at First National Bank of Botswana,” he said.
In December 2022, Morupisi was given a new lease on life by escaping jail term and ordered to pay the State. He received a jail term of two years wholly suspended for the charge of corruption and was ordered to pay P130, 000 being a collective of count two of corruption and count three of money laundering. While some had hoped that Morupisi would be sent to jail to set an example to would-be corrupt officers, the once prominent former government official was spared the embarrassment of jail and given 90 days to pay the prescribed amount during his sentencing.