Marsland, the founding director of Capital Management Botswana (CMB), is wanted in Botswana to face charges of money laundering, corruption and fraud related to the management of a P500 million investment mandate from the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF).
Nabbed on an Interpol red notice in July 2019 while en-route to Germany, Marsland spent three years in jail, fighting tooth and nail against extradition to Botswana.
Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) spokesperson, Nlayidzi Gambule, told Mmegi there were two key outcomes the anti-corruption watchdog was watching out for.
“We were expecting the ruling on the actual extradition on February 28, but he rushed and challenged to say the case must be struck off the roll, which then delays the actual extradition case,” he told Mmegi in a brief interview. “So, we are waiting for the actual extradition case and the hearing of his challenge seeking the striking out of the case,” he stated.
Legal sources in South Africa told Mmegi said Marsland had filed an interlocutory appeal, while the judgement on the main matter was pending.
CMB, now under liquidation, was contracted by the BPOPF in 2014 to manage an initial P500 million investment mandate in private equity. The asset manager and the pension fund fell out in late 2017 with allegations of misappropriation, at which point CMB had reportedly been given P477 million to manage.
The asset manager sent BPOPF P50 million back and said the amount was final fulfillment and settlement of its (CMB’s) obligations to the BPOPF under the terms of a “partnership agreement”.
Marsland and his local partner, Rapula Okaile, have since faced civil action by creditors, led by liquidators of CMB. The pair also face criminal charges, with the Court of Appeal in December 2021 reversing a lower court’s decision to acquit and discharge them.
While confirming that the agency wanted those suspected of corruption to appear in local courts, Gambule clarified that the DCEC was not in the business of pinpointing anyone as a “mastermind”.
“The investigation as you go along, it gives you some of those leads and the next step is Marsland and Okaile,” the DCEC’s communications and public relations manager said. “As for the ‘mastermind,’ we don’t work with hearsay but concrete evident to say we have something to pin, not perception,” he added.
Marsland, once a mover and shaker in the local financial sector, has reportedly been on house arrest since 2022. His conditions include not leaving Johannesburg without receiving express permission from the courts in advance.
The BPOPF scandal rattled the nation when it broke out in 2018, with subsequent court rulings confirming that a significant amount of pensioners funds from the BPOPF, around P200 million, was misappropriated and diverted through companies that were controlled by directors Marsland and Okaile. The beneficiaries were in Botswana and South Africa.
Marsland and Okaile have both repeatedly said the funds were invested in line with the mandate given by the BPOPF and that no funds were missing or misappropriated.
The asset manager last year told a South African publication that he was the victim of political intrigues, alleging that “spies” were trying to make him “frame” former President Ian Khama.
Over the years, court rulings and official enquiries have also suggested that funds taken from the pension fund went to various political supremos and other connected prominent people.
Gambule told Mmegi that the DCEC does not consider unverified information in its investigations.
“Out there, the view is that there are others involved but those who are saying that, are they able to come out with that information and names? “In court, we work on evidence. “Even if there’s a mastermind, is there anything linking that person? “In short, the investigation as far as Marsland is concerned, we’re are waiting to take him to court here,” he said.
Directorate of Public Prosecutions officials were unavailable for comment this week, as they were said to be on a retreat in Mmokolodi.
Local investigative and prosecutorial authorities were recently buoyed by the successful imprisonment of former Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP), Carter Morupisi.
Morupisi was a key figure in the BPOPF matter, having chaired the pension fund when the P500 million tender was awarded. The former PSP signed the contract with CMB while the board was on suspension.
The Court of Appeal recently upheld his conviction on corruption and money laundering, after finding that CMB gave Morupisi a vehicle as consideration for being granted the tender.
The former PSP is serving a seven-year sentence.
