MORUPISI TRIAL SET TO TEST AND SHAKE THE SYSTEM
ONCE regarded as the most powerful man in the public service, this week Carter Morupisi looked a broken man.
Morupisi, alongside his wife, Pinny, is fighting for his liberty in court, his trial broadcast live to the nation through various media outlets.
The former Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP), a role he was suspended from in September 2019, faces two charges of corruption and one of money laundering - a crime in which his wife is also implicated.
If found guilty on all three counts, Morupisi - who has protested his innocence - is potentially looking at a maximum sentence of 33 years in jail. Should the former Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) Board Chairperson be spared the slammer, a guilty verdict still carries a possible P20 million fine. Such are the incredibly high stakes involved!
On Tuesday - Day One of what is expected to be a drawn out case – the State presented a daunting line-up of 31 witnesses set to testify against Morupisi. Included among the 31 were high-profile individuals such as the former BPOPF CEO, Boitumelo Molefhe and perhaps most crucially, Trudy Suzanne Marsland, the ex-wife to the owner of CMB, Tim Marsland.
First up to take the stand was Molefhe, whose term as BPOPF CEO came to an end last month. She immediately found herself under fire, facing a barrage of questions from the defence’s silvertongued senior lawyer, Busang Manewe. Indeed, throughout the day, the State’s lawyers repeatedly objected to Manewe’s ‘humiliating and disrespectful’ line of questioning, urging court to intervene and protect their witnesses.
Manewe insisted the charges against his client were ‘ cooked up’ in a Whatsapp conversation between Molefhe and Marsland’s ex-wife.
He also told court that he had incriminating Whatsapp messages between the pair.
“What do you have against my client that you want to see him rot in jail? I know you have cooked up Whatsapp messages. You know the truth. They (the State) don’t know what I am talking about but you (Molefhe), and I, know what I am talking about,” Manewe charged.
Molefhe, however, maintained she only ever interacted with Marsland’s ex-wife for purposes of CMB liquidation process in 2018.
She further claimed that processes were flouted when CMB were named BPOPF’S private equity managers in 2014 - the year prior to Molefhe’s BPOPF CEO appointment.
She told court that CMB did not qualify for the due diligence criteria which are critical before appointing any firm to manage what she called ‘huge sums of money’. Molefhe further accused Morupisi and her predecessor of appointing CMB in the absence of the board.
She told court that it was not until 2017, when they received a tip-off from Bakang Seretse alleging a ‘beneficial relationship’ between the Board Chairman, Morupisi, and CMB, that suspicions were raised.
According to Molefhe’s evidence, Morupisi was then asked to declare an interest. The matter was subsequently reported to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) for further investigations.
Manewe, however, put it to Molefe that the only reason Seretse made the allegation was because Morupisi had terminated a billion Pula contract with Seretse’s company.
“I cannot answer for Seretse,” Molefhe responded simply.
Throughout the week, the State intended to demonstrate the ‘criminal’ relationship between Morupisi and CMB.
At the heart of the case is a pimped-up gold Toyota land cruiser, worth R630,988 which was tendered in court as an exhibit.
According to court records, the Cruiser was first registered under Manor Squad Services, a South African company with alleged links to CMB. The State claim the car was a gift to Morupisi in May 2017 for his role in granting CMB the lucrative BPOPF contract. The car was later registered in Botswana with a new registration number B 587 BEW to a company called R7 Group - which is how Morupisi’s wife has been roped in. She is the director of the R7 group.