Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) has been swindled a staggering M35 million by four debt collectors, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard this week.
The PAC chairperson, ’Machabana Lemphane-Letsie, heard that the debt collectors who were under the employ of the LEC directed payments into their own bank accounts.
The quartet, Lemphane-Letsie heard, would approach debtors and instruct them to deposit money into their accounts under the pretence that they belonged to the LEC.
Some debtors, it appeared, were willing defrauders in that they were fully aware that they were paying the four employees instead of the LEC in exchange for a reduction of their debts.
The debt collectors, whose names were not mentioned, would then cancel the names of companies from the list of debtors but the payments would not reflect in the company’s bank accounts.
“The money lost is M35 million, what have you done about that issue?” Lemphane-Letsie asked the LEC managing director, Mohlomi Seitlheko, during a hearing on Tuesday.
Seitlheko said they realised the discrepancies while doing a reconciliation, adding that “some customers were conniving with the employees to do this crime, they later erased the names of the creditors”.
The LEC head of customer experience, Lebohang Mohasoa, told the PAC that they have a list of companies that say they have paid, yet there is no money paid in the company’s bank accounts.
Mohasoa said they made reconciliations to find out if the money was ever paid. “Those companies say they did not pay to the LEC but to some employees who went to them asking for money,” Mohasoa said.
He said some companies have told them the truth that they paid to the debt collectors who deleted their names from the debtors list. “But some do not want to tell the truth of what exactly happened,” he said.
Mohasoa said they have entered into some agreements with such companies to pay back the money to the LEC. “Some are already paying,” he said. Lemphane-Letsie asked the LEC management if four people can steal such a huge amount of money without them seeing what is happening.
“One of the companies owed the LEC M5 million and it was paid to your employees,” she said.
A committee member, Mputi Mputi, said the PAC should be given the names of workers who were conniving with the customers to defraud the LEC. “There is lack of discipline in this company.
Did you take disciplinary action?” Mputi asked. The LEC human resources manager, ’Mamoipone Mashale, said disciplinary action was taken on two employees who were later fired.
“The disciplinary hearing concluded in August this year and those two were expelled,” Mashale said.
She said their disciplinary structure starts with line managers, assisted by the industrial relations office. “Some hard cases are dealt with by our legal department,” she said.
She disclosed that the other two employees resigned before they could be taken to a disciplinary hearing. She disclosed that those who resigned have since been given their benefits.
She said all the four people came from the credit control department of the LEC. Lemphane-Letsie asked if any criminal cases were opened against the four.
The LEC internal auditor, Seiri Rakeketsi, said at the time of the crime the LEC had a police unit seconded to the company. Rakeketsi said the unit investigated the matter and found two of the suspects.
“Those people immediately resigned,” Rakeketsi said. He said the other two were not taken to the police because the office was still working on the issue internally.
Lemphane-Letsie asked why the two suspects who resigned were paid their benefits. “You found them suspicious and later paid them for stealing, what is that?”
She said the company should have interdicted such employees so that they could not be paid their terminal benefits. Seitlheko said the disciplinary hearing was only held last month and “the criminal cases will be lodged in the coming weeks”.
He promised the committee that all the companies that connived with the employees will be taken to court as well. “We could not hold their benefits when the court case is not over.
We could only hold them if the case was done,” Seitlheko said. Mputi said he was embarrassed by the LEC’s failure to enforce the law. “I am embarrassed that the LEC failed to do its job.
Is this the level of excellence? The legal team is there yet the case drags for over a year,” Mputi said. “The MD says he will only go to the police in two weeks,” he said.
“People pay a lot of money just to connect electricity yet your employees steal and walk free.
’Maboiketlo Maliehe, another PAC member, asked why it took the company such a long time to suspend the two employees yet they knew that they were suspects.
Seitlheko answered that the disciplinary hearing only ended at the end of August this year “and we had to review it before taking any action”. “That process takes time,” Seitlheko said, pleading: “Please give me two weeks and I will report to the police.”
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