Africa-Press – Lesotho. A case in which Lehlohonolo Selate is said to have defrauded Standard Lesotho Bank of M460 000 in 2018 will be heard this morning in the Maseru Magistrate’s Court.
Selate, who narrowly escaped a much bigger fraud charge of M50 million in May, was granted M10 000 bail and M150 000 surety on April 11. Selate is charged together with Rethabile Khatleli, Phanyaka Mohlatsana, Lehlohonolo Tšiu, Maboloka Matjoa and Lineo Mohale.
The case was supposed to have been heard on Tuesday but Magistrate Thamae Thamae postponed it to today after Khatleli was said to be preparing for a funeral of a close relative.
The magistrate, however, issued a warrant of arrest for Khatleli who only appeared in court yesterday explaining that his lawyer had not told him that the trial was due to start yesterday.
The other reason for the postponement was that Mohlatsana did not have a lawyer, until he instructed Advocate Letuka Molati at the last hour. Advocate Thandi Phohlo, standing for Advocate Molati, confirmed that indeed the third accused was their client but they needed time to go through the case first.
They pleaded with the court to postpone the case to today. Thamae said the accused persons seemed to be taking the court lightly and want to waste the its time.
“It seems your aim is to tarnish the court’s reputation and I will not allow that,” Magistrate Thamae said.
He told Khatleli that being summoned to appear before court is not a plea or request “rather it is an order and if one cannot take orders given by the court then he would be arrested and await trial at the Lesotho Correctional Service”.
Magistrate Thamae said “the court will sit and continue whether these accused persons have lawyers or not because they seem to be playful”. “One cannot sit from March till now without a lawyer and only find a lawyer a day before trial,” he said, before adjourning the court to this morning.
Selate was arrested for allegedly defrauding the bank of M460 000 shortly after his release in another case in which the magistracy said the prosecution seemed to have lost interest.
This was a case in which he was accused of being the brains behind the M50 million scam through which the government lost money to fictitious suppliers.
They allegedly defrauded the government by “by purporting to pay for services rendered to (it) whereas it was for their own personal gain”. At the time the prosecution alleged that Selate and his co-accused siphoned the M50 million from the state’s purse through a well-orchestrated scheme.
They were said to have inflated and diverted payments meant for suppliers to themselves and their phony companies which had not rendered any services to the state.
The prosecution also alleged that the fraud was facilitated by various officials at the Ministry of Finance. Part of the M50 million was repatriated from South African banks while some had already been used.
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