Rising whitecollar crimes worry DCEC
Corporate crimes such as abuse of power, conflict of interest and money laundering are on the rise in the country, raising the concern of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), it has been established. Speaking at the launch of the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority’s (NBFIRA) ethics hotline, DCEC director-general, Tymon Katlholo urged people to report the abuse of power, fraud, corruption, bribery, misuse of information for personal gain and non-compliance with financial services laws.
He said doing so would play a role in improving internal and regulatory controls adding that the DCEC continues to enhance collaborative partnerships with relevant stakeholders in the public, private and civil society to reduce corruption. “The fight against corruption should be seen to begin from the leadership angle in terms of political will, good governance, promoting of integrity and good ethical behaviour and all leaders in our own space,” he said.
Katlholo said corruption at the highest levels poses a great threat to the stability and well-being of society, while the failure to root out high-level corruption undermines anti-corruption measures at other levels as it perpetuates double standards. For his part, NBFIRA CEO, Oduetse Motshidisi said fraud in the non-bank financial institutions sector cuts across the spectrum with no particular sector more particularly affected.
“We have reports from across sectors which are about employers, some about former employees in forms of misconduct, non-compliance, criminal conduct to mention but a few. We usually launch investigations on these reports,” he said. The NBFIRA is hoping its ethics hotline will help whistleblowers to report any issues they encounter in dealing with non-bank financial institutions. Non-bank financial institutions include pawnshops, insurance companies and capital market players such as the Botswana Stock Exchange and its brokers.