DCEC, FIA roped in ZCC Money Laundering Probe

  • “Kganya insurance is not authorised and registered”
  • ZCC millions held under questionable company, members demand answers
  • “Report other cases to other agencies”- NBFIRA

TEFO PHEAGE

The Non -Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) has referred members of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) to the Financial Intelligence Agency-FIA, Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Botswana Police following the church’s controversial Kganya insurance scheme money laundering case.
In a letter dated 6th February 2018 copied to the Ministry of Finance and Registrar of Societies, NBFIRA Director of Insurance, Matlakala Raphaka, says their investigations have revealed that the ZCC insurance scheme is not registered with them and is therefore not authorised by NBFIRA.
In Botswana, insurance agents are required to undergo training and to take an exam for the Certificate of Proficiency, depending on the type of insurance they are pursuing. After completing the exam, an insurance agent must apply for licensing to NBFIRA. Only licensed insurance agents are allowed to sell and service insurance policies.
The Kganya insurance scheme covers burials, accident cover, permanent disability, dreaded diseases’ cover and subsidised fares at half-price following three pilgrimages to Moria.
THE MONEY LAUNDERING CASE
The case turned ugly when members of the church wrote a letter to NBFIRA questioning the legality and legitimacy of Kganya insurance scheme which they have been subscribing for P75 since 1990. A close study of the scheme suggests that it has made a lot of money since its inception.
In their five-page letter to NBFIRA, ZCC members reported that there are signs of money laundering within the church’s biggest insurance scheme:
“We gather that monthly collections towards Kganya Insurance Scheme from some of our unsuspecting and gullible members are being diverted and put for personal use, with some deposited into some illicit accounts with one local bank,” they pointed out.
Church members warn that “with the abrupt, illegal and callous stoppage of the regular payment of Kganya monthly premiums, our members’ good standing has been prejudiced such that they may lose out on burial cover and other associated benefits.” With this stand-off, no new members can register for this insurance scheme.
Church members are so angry that they now want their subscriptions from the day of the scheme’s inception. “Given the view that Kganya group was never intended to be a pyramid scheme, we contend that our members whose regular monthly premiums have been curtailed ought to and must be reimbursed with compound interests for all their contributions that they made toward the scheme, where we have been members since its inception in 1990 until 30 September 2017 when our subscriptions were suspended haphazardly and without formal notice,” charged the Gwest Phase II church which is also vehemently opposed to the so called Consensus Building and Mediation Team headed by former Permanent Secretary, Louis Malikongwa. Malikongwa has refused to comment on the accusations when requested to buy this publication.
Phase II ZCC church members are presented by Duma Boko.
Meanwhile members of the church across the country are in the process of seeking a court interdict to stop the church’s Annual General Meeting scheduled for this Sunday.