Mohloai Mpesi
COMPANIES linked to Prime Minister Sam Matekane and Minister of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police, Lebona Lephema, were once investigated by police over an alleged Road Fund tollgate fraud scheme.
However, they later settled all their issues with the Fund including all outstanding amounts and no criminal charges were pursued against them.
Police investigation documents leaked recently show that Mr Matekane’s MGC Properties and Mr Lephema’s Lephema Executive Transport were among 13 companies probed in 2022 for allegedly making bogus tollgate payments at the Maseru and Caledonspoort border posts.
The documents indicate that the companies allegedly colluded with Road Fund employees to defraud the parastatal between 2020 and 2022 through fraudulent reloading of tollgate cards without remitting funds.
The Road Fund is said to have lost more than M4 million during the period under review. Lephema Executive Transport allegedly owed M394 008, while MGC Properties owed M10 268. Although the amounts linked to the two companies appear relatively small, police documents do not indicate how long the alleged scheme may have gone undetected before being uncovered.
Other companies implicated in the alleged fraud include Hippo Transport, Slitz Transport, Top Transport, Circuit Breaker Industries, ISM Transport, Notz Freight Logistics, Takaso Thabiso, Ntsapi Transport, Moiketsi Mathe, Phofson & Ramson, and Startech Enterprise.
The Lesotho Times has seen correspondence from the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) Commercial Crime Counter Unit addressed to Mr Lephema during the 2022 investigations. In the letter, police state that Lephema Executive Transport was among companies issued with tollgate cards that were repeatedly reloaded, but whose payments were allegedly not remitted to the Road Fund.
“Police Commercial Crime Counter Unit are investigating a case of fraud where Road Fund Lesotho has reported a tollgate card scam,” the letter reads.
“According to the report, legitimate cards issued to motorists were fraudulently recharged or reloaded.
“Lephema Executive Transport is amongst the clients issued with cards which are suspected to have continuously been reloaded, but the funds were not remitted into the Road Fund coffers.”
Mr Lephema was requested to submit proof of payments and details of personnel responsible for recharging the tollgate cards. Police indicated that previous attempts to obtain the information had been unsuccessful.
It appears that Hippo Transport, owned by Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) legislator for Peka constituency Mohopoli Monokoane, is the only company that has been taken to court by the Road Fund. The case was filed in December last year, with the Road Fund claiming Mr Monokoane owed M3.5 million. Police documents indicate that he had already paid M1 150 000 of the amount in 2022 when investigations began.
The Hippo Transport matter is still pending before the Commercial Division of the High Court.
When asked why the Road Fund had pursued legal action against Mr Monokoane but not against the companies linked to Messrs Lephema and Matekane, Road Fund Head of Corporate Communications Phumla Moleko said the two had settled their debts.
“It was not time to charge them. We charge people when negotiations have failed. We informed them of the situation and they paid. We are therefore charging those who have not paid. We are not selective,” Ms Moleko said.
She added that Road Fund employees suspected of receiving bribes to facilitate the alleged fraud had been dismissed.
“They are no longer working at the Road Fund,” she said.
Although she declined to disclose details of how the tollgate funds were allegedly siphoned, Ms Moleko said the Road Fund had upgraded its systems to prevent similar incidents in future.
“Yes, there are initiatives that we have taken to stop this issue from happening. We upgraded the tollgate system and are in the process of acquiring an even more advanced one to ensure there are no loopholes.”
