Lesotho government officials facing charges after millions paid into SA bank accounts

Seven corrupt officials from the Lesotho Ministry of Finance are facing charges of fraud and money laundering in the Maseru Magistrate’s Court.

This comes after the South African Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) was granted a forfeiture order for R18 million that was fraudulently paid into four South African bank accounts by the corrupt Lesotho government officials.

The officials allegedly siphoned approximately R50 million from the Lesotho state coffers through a well-orchestrated scheme in which they inflated and diverted payments meant for suppliers to themselves and their companies which had not rendered any services to the state.

The Free State division of South Africa’s High Court granted the forfeiture order after the AFU proved that the money was fraudulently paid into Absa, Capitec, First National Bank (FNB) and Standard Bank accounts to defraud the Lesotho government.

Lesotho Asset Forfeiture Unit and Lesotho Mounted Police requested the assistance of the AFU, the Hawks and the Financial Intelligence Centre when they established that officials from Ministry of Finance had allegedly siphoned the R50 million and deposited R31 million into South African banks.

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AFU investigator Oddie Mradla found that more than R18 million was still available to be preserved and Advocate Bishum Somaru launched an urgent application in the Free State High Court to freeze the bank accounts.

The money has now been forfeited and it will be paid back into the coffers of the Lesotho government.

“Further investigation revealed that there is R7.3 million that was paid into the personal accounts of the officials who are accused of defrauding the Lesotho government,” National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said.

Shuping said the money has also been preserved after the AFU applied for an unopposed preservation order and that the AFU will apply for the forfeiture of this money in April 2022.

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