E15 000 bail for subcontractor in E7m eMali theft
MBABANE – Fourteen days after his arrest, Tewordros Asfaw, who allegedly stole E7million from Eswatini Mobile e-Mali, has been released on bail.
Asfaw was granted bail yesterday by the High Court. His release was subsequent that of his co-accused, Vusumuzi Dlamini, who is also out on bail. The court fixed Asfaw’s bail amount at E15 000. He was ordered to pay E3 000 in cash and the balance to be in the form of surety. Both accused persons were represented by Noncedo Ndlangamandla of Mabila Attorneys.
The theft of the e-Mali money was discovered after an investigation by the police. The unlawful transactions allegedly occurred between October 2022 and February 2023 in Mbabane. The investigations led to the arrest of Asfaw (34) and his friend, Dlamini (39).
Asfaw of Pine Valley was employed by Eswatini Mobile as a subcontractor to assist the company with software and engineering. It was alleged that during his tenure, different amounts of money were diverted from the account of Eswatini Mobile or its customers that they were intended for. The monies were allegedly diverted to Dlamini’s account held with EswatiniBank. The pair faces a charge of theft by false pretences.
According to the charge sheet, Asfaw was the registered owner of mobile number while his co-accused was the registered owner of mobile with EswatiniBank account number
77401856156.
It is alleged that the duo misrepresented to Genius Sihlongonyane, in his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of e-Mali Limited, that the amount of E7 344 084 had been deposited into the e-Mali trust account number held at Eswatini Bank Mbabane Branch on behalf of cellular number
which the money was transferred to EswatiniBank number
9877, 7993 2381, 7979 7878 77045709210 7968
Tewordros Asfaw (2nd R) with granted bail yesterday.
held by Dlamini.
The investigations uncovered that from the said EswatiniBank account, the money was transferred to two First National Bank (FNB) accounts held by the duo, resulting in them charged with theft by false pretence. During their first court appearance at Mbabane Magistrates Court, the Crown applied that they be remanded in custody until March 3, 2023 pending committal to the High Court. Their attorney did not object the application.
77401856156 Bail
They then moved an urgent bail application at the High Court. Asfaw narrated events leading to his arrest and how the money was purportedly stolen through what he described as his negligence. He told the court that certain amounts of monies were diverted from the accounts of the mobile company and/or its customers to different accounts including that of his co-accused. “I became aware of these monies and unfortunately, I did not inform Eswatini Mobile. As a result of my negligence, the company suffered a loss which they estimated to be around E7 million,” submitted Asfaw.
He narrated that when Eswatini
at the High Court after being
Mobile became aware of the loss of the funds, he was out of the country. According to Asfaw, he received a call that he was to meet the management of Eswatini Mobile regarding the loss of funds. Asfaw said upon receiving the call, he immediately boarded a plane to the Kingdom of Eswatini and met with the management and attorney of Eswatini Mobile on February 21, 2023.
He alleged that consequent to their discussions, they entered into an agreement (acknowledgment of debt) in terms of which he was to repay the amount owing within 90 days. “The matter having been settled between us, I was surprised thereof when I was called by the police on February 24, 2023 and charged with the offence. Unfortunately, the police could no longer communicate with the complainant,” submitted Asfaw.
It was further his averment that he intended to pay the complainant (Eswatini Mobile) the money within 90 days as allegedly agreed between the parties. He contended that in order to do that, he needed to be out of custody as he had project he was on working on, which would provide the sum of E7 million.