Botswana Telecommunications Corporation has lost close to P2 million to con artists in a scam involving the online purchase of tickets for the South Africa FIFA World Cup.
The Telegraph’s investigations have revealed that around March last year, BTC unwittingly fell victim to a dummy corporation which ran an internet scam that purportedly sold World Cup tickets.
BTC purchased the tickets from the company based in the Caribbean Islands, with the objective of using them in their local promotions. But, since transferring the funds through a local bank, BTC has not received any acknowledgement of receipt from the company.
The corporation has been battling to keep the embarrassing scandal under wraps, and only recently decided to contact the police after incessant efforts to get in touch with the Caribbean company hit a brick wall.
Detective Assistant Superintendent Chifana Toitoi of the fraud unit of the Serious Crime Squad on Monday confirmed that they are investigating a case in which BTC might have been swindled of millions of Pula in a World Cup ticket scam.
“We have not made any headway because this is a fresh matter. We have, however, consulted Interpol to assist us with investigations,” he said.
He also said that investigations involving multinational corporations are usually complex and technical, and usually take a long time to complete.
When asked about the issue, BTC Marketing and Communications Manager, Anno Tshipa, said that they mooted the idea of using World Cup tickets in their promotions last year.
“But complications developed after we forwarded the funds for the tickets. We have since referred the matter to the police, and we will do what it takes to ensure that we get our money back,” she said.
