Sunday Standard investigations have intercepted e-mail correspondence between Bona Life Director Regina Vaka and Capital Management Botswana (CMB) Capital (CMB) director Tim Marsland suggesting dirty dealings and underhand plans to rob public officers of their pensions.
In one of the e- mail messages, Vaka accused Marsland of appropriating public funds “that have been placed in your custody into your full control so as to permanently dispossess the public of their hard earned monies. This you did under the guise that these are not public funds and the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) is in breach of BOP agreement.”
Vaka further states that, “I advised you against trying to consolidate public funds into CMA because they are regulated funds that are protected by law. Instead you created CMB Fund One and transferred all public monies (including Bona life annuity funds) to CMB Fund one in order to remove it from Regulatory watch and usurp the funds. Thereafter, you attempted to liquidate CMB and transfer everything to CMA. Thank God this was thwarted by Rapula (Okaile) who still needs his job at CMB.
Vaka also accused Marsland of fighting BPOPF in an attempt to “teach BJ a lesson.” BJ is the CEO of BPOPF Boitumelo Molefe. Vaka claims in her e-mail that Marshland wanted to get Molefe fired “so that you could appoint someone who was more aligned to the Chairman and yourselves.
The BPOPF Chairman is Permanent Secretary to the President, Carter Morupisi. The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) is investigating Morupisi’s alleged corrupt relationship with CMB Capital.
The BPOPF last week resolved to report Morupisi to the DCEC following allegations that he has a “beneficial interest through CEO Okaile Rapula in CMB.”
The allegations of Morupisi’s corrupt relationship with CMB Capital came to light in a letter to BPOPF by former Kgori Capital Managing Director, Bakang Seretse which stated: “We have been advised by (name withheld) that that chairman of the Fund has a beneficial interest through CEO Okaile Rapula in CMB and that he has held several meetings with them. While we cannot independently vouch for this, we thought it was important to bring it to your attention to avoid issues of potential conflict of interest.”
Allegations of Morupisi’s questionable relationship with CMB capital have also been made by BPOPF Chief Executive Officer, Boitumelo Molefhe. In a letter to the Chairperson of the BPOPF Human Resources and Remuneration Committee Topias Marenga late last year, Molefhe accused Morupisi of colluding with CMB Capital to expel her from BPOPF. She wrote: Further, I have been made aware of meetings between the Chairman (Morupisi) and CMB Capital officers in which my dismissal was discussed. Apparently the meetings emanate from concerns regarding the current investigations related to CMB Capital.”
Marsland wrote back denying any plans to get Molefhe fired charging that Vaka’s statement was “a blatant lie….. you know this and if you had any decency you would withdraw this statement in its entirety.”
Marsland further charged that, “the narrative you have created suggesting that CMBF1 was created to misappropriate assets is utterly false. You also know this. You know CMBF1 was vetted by DLG, at your behest. Once again, you have concocted a false narrative to simply cover up your own mistakes and are hoping that by throwing mud at us, it will divert attention from your own failings. It won’t.”
Marsland further states that “your narrative that I am a fugitive and planning to flee Botswana is false in every respect. And you know this. Finally, the fact is that Bona is insolvent. That is the issue. You are paying P 5% on P800m in liabilities and receiving 1% on your assets. To do the maths for you, you are paying out P40m in interest a year and receiving P8 m. You are losing P32m a year. Add to that your costs of P20m and you have a loss of P50m a year. No wonder you are so desperate to lay your hands on P100m of public money. And no wonder you are so desperate for a scapegoat. Fact is you are in deep deep trouble. And it is entirely of your own making. And I am not going to allow you to not own it. You own this 100%.”
