Law Society summonses DPP over forged evidence

  • DPP insists that they have evidence of looting P100bn from BoB
  • Governor says no P100bn is missing from BoB

LETLHOGILE MPUANG

The Law Society of Botswana (LSB) is demanding answers from the Directorate Public Prosecutions (DPP) over alleged fabrication of evidence in the ongoing “Butterfly” case in which former president Ian Khama is accused of looting P100 billion from public coffers.

The case has placed state law enforcement agencies under the spotlight following an address to Members of Parliament by the Governor of the Bank of Botswana, Moses Pelaelo, in which he said he was not aware of the transactions being referred to and that BoB did not have such huge amounts of money.

A statement released yesterday (Monday) by the Executive Secretary of LSB, Tebogo Moipolai, says how the society has been deeply concerned by the seriousioness of the allegations and the apparent silence by the state following the defence’s counter evidence that the state fabricated evidence to suit their case and deny the accused, Welheminah Maswabi, bail.

“The Law Society was inundated with enquiries about what its position was and the matter was discussed in social media by both members of the profession and members of the public at large,” reads the LSB statement. “The Society was itself concerned at the apparent silence by the state on the very serious allegations. A meeting was sought and arranged with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for Monday 25th November 2019. The Society met with the DPP and three other senior members of his team, two Deputy DPPs and two Assistant DPPs, one being directly responsible for the prosecution on the 25th November 2019.”

LSB’s concerns also follow Maswabi’s lawyers’ submissions in court last month that the state had fabricated their evidence in the alleged theft of P100 billion at BoB.

A company engaged by Maswabi’s attorneys, Basileus Consilium Professional Services (BCPS), to determine the authenticity of the email exchanges that are said to have been between Maswabi and former spy chief Issac Kgosi concluded that the emails appeared to be fabricated and fraudulent.

Furthermore, two prominent South African banks, Absa and Nedbank, were also said to have denied being holders of accounts linked to billions of pula that are believed to have been stolen from BoB between 2009 and 2019.

LSB has an interest in the case because it plays an oversight role and is responsible for the licensing of lawyers. Moipolai told this publication that they “will from now be monitoring the case to its end”.

Meanwhile, the state has reiterated that they have a case and are adamant that a day will come when they will prove their case in court. The DPP released a statement recently clarifying their position on the matter following their meeting with LSB. Maswabi has since been granted bail and will be back in court on 7 February 2020.