After a dramatic weekend of raids, car chasing, and interrogation, three men briefly appeared before the Broadhurst Magistrate’s Court for fraud. The brief court session was held on Saturday in camera following a joint operation between the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) and the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) that led to the arrest of the trio.

A search for a fourth and final suspect on the run is underway.

The three men, Innocent Gabaeme, Tumelo Rakotala and Thabo Monageng were nabbed for fraud and money laundering. The charges, however, according to DIS spokesperson, Edward Robert are likely to increase as investigations continue following startling information gathering suggesting the suspects donated some of the money to a top Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) official’s election campaign at the central committee elections.

Whilst the DIS was at pains to fully explain the case, the agency did say it is still in the middle of the investigation. The Monitor has learnt that the trio has been defrauding foreign nationals.

According to the information gathered, the men would trick unsuspecting foreign nationals into investing in their company only for them to disappear with the investment money.

So far, law enforcement says the trio managed to defraud foreign nationals of monies up to P14 million but the DIS says preliminary investigations suggest the tally might increase.

Speaking to the media after court, Robert said: “This is a joint operation between the DIS and the DCEC. We have been following the information on organised crime and corruption. We needed judicial authorisation to extend their detention as you know that the law doesn’t allow us to keep any suspect beyond 48 hours. Our request has been granted by the principal magistrate and so we will continue our investigations.”

The DIS spokesperson further confirmed that they have only managed to arrest three suspects whilst another is still at large.

“They were given the opportunity to engage their lawyers as their rights dictate but they refused. We are on the lookout for the fourth suspect as we believe we will manage to arrest him,” he said.

For his part, DCEC spokesperson, Lentswe Motshoganetse shared the same sentiment as DIS. Motshoganetse said the DCEC is investigating an allegation of money laundering. He explained that the allegation is that the suspects sponsored one of the top BDP officials at the last central committee elections in an attempt to ‘clean’ the money including through small businesses.