Three men appeared before a Francistown Magistrates Court this afternoon, for allegedly defrauding Montwedi Mphathi, the President of the Botswana Chamber of Mines (BCM), of over P1 million.
The trio, consisting of 41-year-old Hendry Lowe, Marlon Lowe (22), and Junior Moyo (21), are accused of acquiring a sum exceeding P1.3 million from Mphathi on various occasions spanning from June 2020 to March 2023.
Mphathi is a seasoned Mining Engineer with more than 35 years of experience in the mining industry and is well-recognized for being the first Botswana citizen to lead the BCL Mine and Botswana Ash.
These young men, now facing 12 counts of obtaining money under false pretenses, allegedly misrepresented that the funds would be invested in forex trading.
Court documents suggest that part of the money was designated for commission payments, delayed payments, agent fees, brokers’ fees, and transfer fees linked to Mphathi’s forex investments.
The accused individuals purportedly did so with full knowledge that their representation was untrue.
Sesafeleng Dijeng, representing the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, requested the court to detain the accused individuals in custody to allow the state sufficient time to conclude their investigations.
“The concern is that a substantial amount of money is at stake. We appeal for time to access or trace the accused persons’ accounts. Consideration of bail will follow once all the necessary investigations are completed,” the State prosecutor implored.
Consequently, the accused persons have been remanded in custody and are scheduled to return to court on Friday for a bail ruling.
