CID caught up in diamond fracas

Lawrence Seretse | Saturday March 1, 2014 19:03

 

This controversial letter, which Mmegi is in possession of, has the police logo and is boldly written Confidential. It is also addressed to To Whom It May Concern and is signed by Kesetsenao Tshweeneetsile, the deputy director of the CID.

The letter, which is not addressed to anyone or institution in particular, confirms the police investigation of LDB directors Alon Arabov, Gilad Goshen and Anthony Siwawa for fraudulently transferring irregular amounts of money from the company’s business accounts.

It states that Daleyot, who is one of the company’s directors, on 20 December 2014 filed the complaint that prompted the investigations.

This confidential letter states: Once investigations are completed and evidence is adequate, Arabov, Goshen and Siwawa would likely face a charge of stealing by directors.

In conclusion, this CID-drafted letter says the charge will be subject to the outcome of their directors agreement in resolving their disputes amicably.

It has since emerged that Daleyot of Belgium-based D.D. Manufacturing N.V. had asked to be furnished with such a letter.

It is alleged that the letter was used to harm and slander directors of Life Diamonds Botswana.

Arobov and Goshen of Arabov Group in Israel are the largest controlling shareholders in Life Diamonds Botswana while Siwawa of Novawall Ltd. holds a 20% stake in the company. These three are the remaining shareholders and directors of LDB after Daleyot withdrew his shares.

It is reported that Daleyot gave a copy of this confidential letter to First National Bank of Botswana (FNBB) warning the bank not to carry out any instructions from the other directors.

 Mmegi quizzed the CID regarding whether it was procedural to issue a party that files a criminal complaint such a letter and for what purpose.

The CID director, Mathews Maduwane, said that if a letter of such a nature should be issued, it must be particular and bear the name of the addressee for whom it is intended.

He said in this Life Diamond Botswana case, the said letter was supposed to be addressed and issued directly to the bank.

As far as I know, the letter was not supposed to be given to the person who filed a complaint. It had to go to the bank.

It had to be used at the bank and addressed to the bank, Maduwane said, while steering clear of discussing the specific case further.

However, in the letter, the CID states that Daleyot was one of the directors of Life Diamonds Botswana.

If really there had been a three-month ongoing investigation into this dispute, as the police claimed, the CID would have known that this statement was incorrect. 

Public records indicate that Daleyot has not been a director of LDB, Siwawa had clarified while avoiding to comment about the letter.

 A source from the intelligence division also scrutinised the non-pragmatic approach of this letter. He pointed out an aspect at the bottom of the letter that seemed even more puzzling.

This is subject to the outcome of their agreement in resolving their disputes amicably, it reads.

 Is criminal conduct, in this case theft by directors, a negotiable crime and the police will drop charges if the thieves make a deal with each other?, he asks.

What kind of justice would this be? Is it the purpose of this letter (which was only given to Daleyot) to allow Daleyot to exert pressures on the company directors, something like if you don’t do so and so (sic) I will get you in jail?

A criminal complaint was filed, but the CID letter talks about disputes.

This makes the letter even more puzzling in the sense that if the CID was aware of a dispute among shareholders, should this have not been reason for greater caution when issuing this To Whom it May Concern letter?

Again, if it were acknowledged that there is a dispute, why would the police give this letter to only one side of the alleged dispute?

Approached with these questions, CID deputy director Tshweneetsile was quick to characterise the letter as extremely confidential and said he would only respond on condition he was told how Mmegi came into its possession.

He claimed that this confidential-to-whom-it-may-concern letter was written for the bank but it got stolen from the bank. He stressed that in contained privileged information and refused to discuss it.

He further alleges that the person who stole the letter from the bank is a suspect in the LDB case and is under investigation.

Tshweneetsile threatened that use of the letter’s confidential contents may bear repercussions for the media.

If you do not tell me where you got that document from, I will not discuss anything. Some woman stole it from the bank and we are investigating it. You know you cannot use that letter; it contains privileged information, he threatened. 

The questions put to Tshweneetsile were intended to explain the standard procedure, fair play and due process and whether the letter he issued did not amount to influence peddling or even corruption.

It is reported that Daleyot made a theft complaint against Siwawa and Goshen of some US$55,000 from the Life Diamonds Botswana corporate bank account around December 20, 2013.

The  confidential-to-whom-it-may-concern letter was then issued to him on January 29, 2014.

Siwawa says he has never received any formal notification of an investigation from the police to-date, either of the company or the directors.

However, he agreed to meet with the police with the other two complainants at the same time to discuss the accusations about the US$55,000 that was transferred from one company account to another company account in order to pay the salaries of 90 employees.

It has since emerged that Siwawa, Goshen and Arabov had ordered the transfer of $55,000 from the company’s Dollar account, to the company’s Pula account for the purpose of paying the December 2013 salaries of Life Botswana Diamonds employees.

Before the payments of the salaries was done, Daleyot, a former shareholder at the time in terms of the Tel Aviv agreement, ordered his manager Arik Paz at LDB not to allow the bank to carry out these payments to the employees.

When the three accused directors discovered that the salaries had not been paid, they informed the bank that the salaries needed to be paid.

The salaries were subsequently paid in early January, Mmegi has learnt.

In the event, Daleyot claimed that he had only noticed the money withdrawal from the Dollar account and went to report to the police, a source says.

The police demanded the testimony of Life Diamonds Botswana manager Paz who confirmed that Daleyot had refused to have the salaries paid and ordered him to advise the bank accordingly.

Paz also confirmed to police that infact the $55,000 so-called stolen money was converted into Pula, and then used to pay LDB employees only, Siwawa revealed.

In February 2013 in Tel Aviv, Daleyot offered to withdraw his shareholding from LDB, making Arobov and Goshen of the Arabov Group the largest controlling shareholders while Siwawa of Novawall Ltd. retained his 20% stake in the company.

Daleyot disputed this share transfer, and in his defence in court, he argued that conditions pertaining to the share transfer agreement were not met and therefore invalidated his transfer of shares.

He says he still holds a 40% ownership in Life Diamonds Botswana, which is the embodiment of his fiery court battle with Arabov.

The case has been thrown out of court twice by judges in Botswana, stating that Daleyot has no rights to sign on behalf of the company or make withdrawals from corporate accounts.

In spite of this, the conflict is now threatening the survival of the local diamond cutting and polishing plant.

Amid this web of deceit and accusations and counter-accusations among directors, the legitimacy and intent of this confidential letter signed by the deputy director of the CID remains doubtful.

In the meantime, De Beers has suspended diamond allocations to Life Diamonds Botswana, bringing business to a standstill.

As the conflicts rage on, LDB employees are also demanding to be paid their salaries.

Batswana employees at the diamond manufacturing plant are complaining that they have been laid off, unpaid and issued letters citing temporary closure of the factory.

The letter states that on 10 February 2014, Life Diamonds Botswana factory closed down temporarily until further notice.

All employees will therefore be notified when to report for duty  and are rest assured that this will not affect their jobs and salaries, it reads.

Siwawa claims no knowledge of this. ìWe are currently investigating this issue as all employees salaries have been assured until resolution of this matter by the Arabov Group, he said.