Moorosi Tsiane

ALLEGED M54 million fraudster, Lehlohonolo Selate, is likely to be charged with fraud and money laundering in South Africa, authorities in that country have said.

That means once South Africa’s crime busting agencies have completed their probes, Selate would have to be extradited to that country where if convicted, he will be guaranteed a long prison sentence.

Fraud and corruption offences involving more than M500 000 carry a mandatory 15 year jail term in South Africa.

The head of South Africa’s Assets Forfeiture Unit (AFU) in the Free State, Bishum Somaru, said they wanted to charge Selate because he used South African institutions to launder the money.

Mr Somaru revealed this during Friday’s handover of assets,  bought by part of the stolen M54 million, to Lesotho.  Selate, a career criminal, stands accused of masterminding the fraud in conjunction with his co-accused at Lesotho’s treasury and various other  people.

The M54 million fraud scheme involved the fraudulent payments to South African shell companies for services that were never rendered.  The shell companies were controlled by Selate and his cohorts. Lesotho’s crime fighting authorities, in conjunction with their South African counterparts, have been hard at work to try and recover the assets bought by the stolen money.

Their cooperation seems to be paying off. In June last year, about M18 million, was recovered and handed back to Lesotho.

On Friday, another M5 million was handed back bringing the total cash to about M23 million.

Another M5 million in cash and assets will escalate the value of the recovered loot to a total of M28 million of the stolen M54 million, South African authorities said.  

Part of the recovered assets, which were handed over to Lesotho on Friday, include three plush vehicles, and a housing flat.  

Selate and his eight co-accused had registered several South African shell companies which they used as conduits for their fraud.

In charging Selate and his cohorts with the M54 million the state accused them of “purporting to pay for services rendered to the government (of Lesotho) whereas it was all for their own personal gain”.

Selate was first charged in October 2021 alongside Nteliseng Lawrence, Mookho Rafono, Tlali Mokoaleli, Thabang Nkoe, Hlabathe Phafoli, Thithili Makhesi, Maqoboto Lepolesa, Fako Molefe and Karabelo Makara.  The eight were released on M 5000 bail and M100 000 surety each while Selate was released on M10 000 bail and M150 000 surety.

Selate, faces a plethora of other fraud, theft and money laundering charges in Lesotho.

It emerged this week he is also being probed by South Africa’s  Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) in the M54 million fraud case over his usage of South African territory to launder the money.

South Africa’s law enforcement officials, led by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Free State, Advocate Navilla Somaru and Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) boss Major-General Mokgadi Bokaba were part of the handover ceremony of the recovered assets on Friday.

Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) Director General. Knorx Molelle, received the assets on behalf of Lesotho. He was handed over a dummy cheque of  M5 million as a symbolic gesture. The money has already been repatriated back.

He was also handed over the three vehicles, a Volkswagen Golf 6 worth M292 900, Audi A7 worth M1 520 00 and BMW X1 worth M830 616 as well as a flat worth M409 000.

The AFU’s regional head in the Free State, Mr Somaru, took time to explain the background to the assets recovery effort, at the handover ceremony, at the offices of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Bloemfontein on Friday.

He said they had been contacted by the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) in August 2021 about a plethora of corruption, fraud and money laundering crimes committed against Lesotho’s treasury as a result of a multitude of fraudulent payment instructions.

They immediately started investigations. They established that there had been some dubious payments made to certain shell companies.

They were given a list of duplicate voucher numbers through which the fraud was committed. The fraudulent duplicate voucher numbers were used on invoices issued to Lesotho’s treasury.

For instance a duplicate voucher number 051 PVR22000308 was used to ask for a payment of about M31 million which was deposited into the account of a shell company called Sunny Penny held at First National Bank (FNB) in Bloemfontein. The money was for alleged catering services that were never rendered to the government.

Another duplicate voucher 013PVR22000092 was used to defraud the Lesotho treasury of about M4 million, paid into an FNB account of a shell company called Traggulogy. Equally this company never rendered any services to the Lesotho government.

Another payment of nearly M3 million  was made to another shell company, which  also never did any business with the Lesotho government using voucher number 052PVR22000181, among other examples of the fraud.

Mr Somaru said South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) had been roped in to assist in the investigations leading to the freezing of these accounts.   Investigations are continuing to track more money.

“The AFU collected all the relevant evidence from Lesotho and SA banks and within a short period of time filed the first of four preservation applications which resulted in R18 610 688 being forfeited and transferred back to the Lesotho Government (in June last year),” Mr Somaru said.

He added: “The FIC and AFU continued with further checks and a second preservation was filed and cash of R5million and a property purchased in Bloemfontein were forfeited and the R5 million is already paid back (the symbolic cheque was presented on Friday).

“The property has been sold and an amount of R1 733 404 will shortly be transferred to the Lesotho government. Further, investigations led to two more properties (flats) and three motor vehicles being forfeited in the third leg. One flat is already sold, and we are handing over three vehicles today. The second flat is in the market for R409 000……”

Mr Somaru said investigations were still ongoing to recover all the laundered money.

“Approximately M28 447 129 of the M54 million will in total be returned to the Lesotho Government,” he said of the recovered money and assets.

On his part DCEO boss, Advocate Molelle, hailed the law enforcement agencies from both countries for their incredible job in recovering the laundered money and assets. He emphasised the need for the two countries to continue working together to fight crime because of their geographical proximity.

“Today marks yet another important milestone, it shows the significant strides made by the two countries….in the fight against corruption, targeting the illicit financial flows across the borders,” said Advocate Molelle.

“It is a day that significantly marks the forging of much needed cooperation and collaboration, ensuring again that we adopt a much more coordinated approach to fighting crime.

“Working in silos is a luxury that we can no longer afford,” Adv Molelle added, emphasizing that organised crime and other serious offences knew no boundaries and borders.  

He also emphasised that it was about time that Lesotho’s public funds benefited all its citizens, and “not only few individuals who have a chance to put their hands in the government purse”.

“Crime does not pay, and it should not pay, “tse ileng ha li khutle” (what has been ill-gotten must surely return), and that is the pledge we made to the Basotho nation. There will be no hiding place for criminals and criminality in our respective jurisdictions including the proceeds of corruption and other serious offences,” Adv Molelle said.

“For the same reasons that corruption and transnational organised crimes, offences and criminals know no boundaries and borders, the law enforcement collective needs to demonstrate that we will not be bound by borders and boundaries.

“Gone are the days when people could depend on the inefficiency in our respective criminal justice systems….”

He hailed the handover ceremony as the beginning of a long hard journey in fighting corruption, “to make sure that we make our respective jurisdictions much safer, and ensure that much needed funds that are being (stolen and) redirected are for the benefit of the citizens, not for the rich elite that are in government.”

Lesotho’s Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mahlape Mohloai, said the recovery of the assets bore testimony to the ever deepening cooperation between Lesotho and South Africa

“Curbing financial crimes and exploitation requires partnerships of all of us. Indeed, preventing and combating financial crimes is a shared responsibility,” he said.