Alleged fraudster slapped with P100,000 bail

Tumelo Mouwane | Thursday March 12, 2015 17:11

In addition, he is required to produce two Batswana sureties of P50,000 each. When granting bail Magistrate Taboka Slave said the prosecution had failed to justify to the courts how the accused is likely to abscond trial, and how he will influence the investigations. Stating the conditions of bail Taboka said the accused must report to Mogoditshane Police Station three times daily, surrender his travelling documents and not tamper with the investigations in any way. “The prosecution indicated that the investigations are likely to take longer, this may in turn make the accused to endure much time in prison and only to find out that the outcomes of trial find him not guilty and his family and business would have suffered,” he said.

Magistrate Taboka said On the 27th of February 2015 the petitioner made a bail application. “The petitioner argued that the accused is innocent until proven guilty, the petitioner also argued that the accused has been remanded in custody since the beginning of February 2015. His businesses have suffered since he had ordered cars that are handled by a company called Capcorn and the cars carry high warehouse storage costs and his employees have not been paid,” he said.

“The petitioner argued that the accused has valid travel documents and residence permits that are valid until September 2016. He also said the accused has family interests in Botswana and has a settled address. The prosecution on the other hand argued that the accused is likely to tamper with the investigations and is a flight risk.

The prosecution also argued that the fingerprints of the accused have not been recorded in order to find out if he has a history of other offences. They also argued that if the accused flees to his home country the state will be unable to bring him back,” he said.

The state alleges that on October 20 last year at an FNBB branch in Gaborone, Chukwuma Ezekannagha ‘with the intention to defraud’ obtained the sum of P2 million cash by falsely pretending that he had plots in Mogoditshane to use as security, when in fact and in truth the said plots were not rightfully allocated to him.