Moorosi Tsiane
HIPPO Transport, owned by the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP)’s Peka MP, Mohopoli Monokoane, is accused of conspiring with a Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) agent to defraud the Road Fund of more than M3.5 million.
Court papers filed the Road Fund last week paint a picture of a scheme that went undetected for nearly four years, from April 2018 to December 2021, before it was exposed by a whistleblower.
According to the Road Fund, the fraud involved tollgate officials accepting cash for personal benefit and then unlawfully loading equivalent amounts onto the trucking companies’ prepaid toll cards.
While the system reflected that there was sufficient credit to allow trucks to pass through border tollgates, that money was never deposited into RSL accounts.
“The system was operating well until late 2021 when, through a whistleblower, the ploy by major trucking companies was uncovered,” the Road Fund states in its court papers.
“Effectively, no money would be received by the Applicant, but the companies’ toll cards would be loaded with credit (all) year-round.”
Following the tip-off, the Road Fund launched a forensic investigation in collaboration with other government agencies.
The probe covered transactions between April 2018 and December 2021 and found Hippo Transport to be the single biggest beneficiary of the scheme.
“At the conclusion of the forensic investigation, it was discovered that Hippo Transport had funds to the tune of three million, five hundred and sixteen thousand, nine hundred and sixty-five maloti (M3,516,965.00) loaded onto its various toll cards without any corresponding payment,” the papers read.
The Road Fund further claims that when Hippo’s directors were summoned for a meeting, they admitted the company’s involvement in the scheme and undertook to repay the full amount.
This commitment, the Fund says, was confirmed through several email exchanges between the parties.
Hippo initially began making repayments and has so far paid M1,750,000. However, the Road Fund alleges that payments stopped abruptly in January this year, leaving an outstanding balance of M1,766,965.
“Despite several reminders and meetings, Hippo has failed to honour the outstanding debt,” the Fund said, demanding that Hippo pays the remaining M1 766 965.
In its legal papers, the Road Fund stresses that it performs a critical public function by collecting revenue earmarked for road maintenance and construction. Therefore, fraudulent conduct not only undermines that mandate but also inflates the cost of revenue collection through protracted litigation.
“The execution of this mandate should not be frustrated by fraudulent activities,” the Fund submits. “The cost of litigation raises the cost of collection and consequently diminishes the amount that may be allocated to road construction agencies in this country.”
The Fund is also asking the court to order Hippo Transport to pay legal costs, arguing that this is not a dispute arising from a bona fide transaction but from deliberate fraud involving collusion with an insider.
The court papers explain that the prepaid tollgate card system was designed for convenience, particularly for transport businesses with large fleets that cross borders daily.
Companies could make a single bank payment, load funds onto toll cards and assign them to drivers, reducing the need for daily cash transactions. In Hippo’s case, however, the Road Fund insists no such payments were ever made.
Instead, it alleges, Hippo unlawfully conspired with an internal agent to load credit that was never paid for, depriving the state of millions of maloti over several years.
Hippo is yet to file its papers with the court.
