Mmegi

DCEC details Kgosi clash trigger

● Highlights for investigations ● Property restraint and reasons ● Companies involved and transactions

MPHO MOKWAPE Staff Writer

The Senior Assistant Director of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), Ngadzi Matshameko has detailed events that led to the long ongoing investigations against former spy chief Isaac Kgosi.

Kgosi, the former Director General (DG) of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), has been under investigation since 2011 to date, which led to most of his properties being restrained by the State.

Matshameko, as one of the main investigators, cites the delay to complex investigations cutting across countries such as Israel, Malaysia and Serbia.

Kgosi is currently fighting for the release of the properties which include Sentlhane Farm, cattle and motor vehicles.

In defence of restraining the property, Matshameko, in an answering affidavit filed on May 9, 2023 to Kgosi’s demand for his property, he gives the trigger to the investigations and subsequent restraint of the said property.

October 5, 2011

DCEC- Matshameko detailed that on or about October 5, 2011, he received information from the intelligence unit of the DCEC to the effect that three companies being Power Force (Pty) Ltd, Defence Concepts (Pty) Ltd and Rosita Enterprises (Pty) Ltd were being awarded tenders by the DIS in contravention of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act with no formal contracts in place.

“It was further alleged that motor vehicles belonging to the DIS were being serviced by various motor dealers who were charging exorbitant fees for their services. A task team, of which I was the leader, was formed to conduct investigations. At the material time, the applicant was the DG of the DIS. The investigations were concluded on October 28, 2014 and nothing untoward was discovered,” he said.

November 2011 and June 12, 2012

The DCEC received a number of allegations relating to the applicant personally. Matshemeko said the allegations were that

● Kgosi was depositing a lot of cash in his personal accounts including money belonging to the government, which came into his possession by virtue of his employment

● That money had been received from Debswana Diamond Company for the benefit of the DIS but that such money was deposited into the account of Silver Shadows (PTY) Ltd, a company in which Kgosi was a sole shareholder-cum director

● That Kgosi had received a payment in the sum of P687,281.39 from a Serbian company called Vlatacom Doo which had won tenders from the DIS without any competitive bidding. The said amount was allegedly paid into the trust account of Collins Newman & Co. and was used to purchase Sentlhane Farm by Kgosi

● That Kgosi was living beyond his means

“I, together with other members of the task team, commenced preliminary investigations but before we could conclude the same, a decision was taken by the management of the DCEC to call the applicant for an interview. The interview was conducted by the DG of the DCEC Rose Seretse and her Deputy,” Matshemeko explained.

February 27, 2012 DCEC- Kgosi interview

Matshemeko- During the interview, Kgosi said he was a poor Motswana with just a few cattle, that the house at Phakalane which is his place of residence was built through a loan from Barclays Bank, which loan was serviced by his wife’s salary and that the builder for the house one Thembo, a Zambian stole more than P600,000.00 which he has repaid except for a balance of P80,000.

Matshemeko detailed that Kgosi said that the house was completed by one Nsingo Jere and that he was subsequently engaged to do renovations for the DIS. That he (Kgosi) bought Sentlhane Farm at an auction and was given P900,000 in cash by the late Nchindo as part of the purchase price with him paying for all other charges associated with the purchase.

Further that the only significant gift he ever received was the money from Nchindo, that his wife bought a Station Wagon Prado from Motor Centre using funds from Silver Shadows (PTY) Ltd as well as a loan, that the money from Debswana was used to buy flat jackets for the DIS and that he was getting dividends from Silver Shadows (PTY) Ltd.

Matshameko also pointed out that subsequent to the interview, investigations continued and that the following were unearthed:

● With respect to the payment from Debswana Diamond Company, it emerged that the applicant used to work with one Mpho Kewakae the then head of security at Debswana for Silver Shadows (Pty) Ltd to be appointed to undertake a security risk assessment. Silver Shadows was engaged without following the procurement process for Debswana and was subsequently paid P200,000 less tax which came to P180,000. The said amount was deposited into the account of Silver Shadows and of the said amount, P137,138.40 was used to buy 100 combat helmets from a company called Tiller Lily. The DIS has no record of such helmets and the balance in the sum of P42,000 000.00 remains unaccounted for.

Matshameko emphasised that when Kgosi was questioned about the said dealings, he hid behind national security and that investigations are still ongoing on the issue.

He also detailed that during Kgosi’s interview, it emerged that prior to the formation of the DIS, a task team of which Kgosi was part of was set up and it travelled to various countries to identify suppliers for DIS and on its return, it prepared a report.

“All our efforts to get hold of this report have not borne fruits but it is critical to our investigations. By all accounts, the applicant met the people behind Vlatacom Doo during these trips. Since the formation of the DIS, Vlatacom Doo without any competitive bidding had been awarded the following,” he said.

● ID production systems tender at a cost of USD4,903,500

● Supply and Installation of countrywide radio communication infrastructure for millions in the sum of 22,900 euros and three million euros being the initial payment. The project was expanded twice on January 14, 2014 and February 13, 2015 at a great cost.

-AFIS project at a value of

USD7,476 073 with part payment of USD1,500,000

Matshameko pointed out that in all instances, the appointment of Vlatacom was motivated by Kgosi with him claiming that it was the best in the market and also involving more than one company might result in a breach of confidentiality. He explained that the report prepared prior to the setting up of the DIS was crucial to prove or disprove Kgosi’s assertion and that the projects were done and paid for.

“It is against this background that the payment of P687,281.29 by Vlatacom for the benefit of Kgosi is of concern to the DCEC. Over and above the said amount, there is an additional payment of P400,000 in cash which was also paid through Collins Newman & Co. which was used towards the purchase of Sentlhane Farm. Needless to say that all these contradict Kgosi’s assertion that the purchase of Sentlhane Farm was financed by the late Nchindo,” he said.

Matshameko said Collins Newman & Co. were served with requisite notice and that they have not met the request as the managing partner Parks Tafa has been indisposed for a long time but indicated that they have received some invoices from Tafa which raised more questions than answers requiring further investigations both locally and outside the country, which regrettably will prolong the investigations.

He emphasised that it should be noted that Sentlhane Farm was not in the name of Kgosi but that of Towers Properties, a company that has long been deregistered and that a request for mutual legal assistance has been sent to Serbia with respect to payment from Vlatacom and the process was ongoing. The request was being handled by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

April 2019

Matshameko- Sometimes around this date, I received a report to the effect that Kgosi had obtained 200 cattle from one Richard Miles, whose company had previously done work for the DIS. Investigations revealed that this was indeed true and that even though Kgosi declared this to the Permanent Secretary to the President, the declaration was done after the event. The explanation behind Miles’ generosity was that there was an agreement that he would return the same number of cattle to Miles in two years’ time without fail. Investigations, however, revealed that Kgosi had not returned any cattle to Miles. From the State papers and Matshameko’s, these are reportedly not the only highlights as confirmed by Collins Mpofu’s supporting affidavits. According to him (Mpofu), as a DCEC investigator, he uncovered quite a lot while investigating Kgosi.

He detailed many transactions that took place between 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 amongst them the purchase of cars, transactions and transfer of millions with different entities.

“It is clear that contrary to Kgosi’s allegations, the investigations are complex and cut across various jurisdictions therefore, the delay. Requests for mutual legal assistance take a long time to finalise,” he said.

Court

en-bw

2023-06-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://enews.mmegi.bw/article/281543705309586

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