How BPOPF escaped being fleeced Millions in Bluthorn Mess

Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) was narrowly spared from being caught in a mess that engulfed the liquidated Bluthorn Fund Managers (BMF), it has emerged. A creditors’ hearing that is going on before Master of the High Court Chipo Gaobatwe heard how founders of Bluthorn established front companies using names of unsuspecting Batswana to siphon millions from BPOPF. The ongoing interrogation provides a window into how millions of pula could have been sucked from the richest Fund in the country. Details of how some locals were made directors of fronting companies without their consent to spirit away millions from BPOPF were laid bare during interrogation by attorney Sipho Ziga, who represents BFM liquidator Kopanang Thekiso. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="1,2,3,4" ihc_mb_template="3" ] In her testimony, Shirley Kamodi, who was the Group’s CEO, revealed how she was made one of the directors of the companies identified as Prime Solutions without her consent. “Yes, I would like to point it out also that even my directorship and Prime, I was not aware that I'm a director,” Kamodi said. “I became aware that I'm a sole director when I was supposed to sign, as a deponent, an affidavit to collect the letters as for Prime employee benefits. “When that paper came for me to sign so that they can take somebody to court to fight for the Prime money. I asked why I was the one to sign the document. I was told that it was because I was the director. I said no, I'm not the director. Everybody said ‘you are the director.’ So I checked the company secretary to see if I'm the director at Prime and he said, yes you are. “I said I never accepted any appointment to that effect. His response was that Eune Engelbrecht (founder and director of BFM) asked him to put it on today. At that time my decision was, you know what, we need to collect money. “If I refuse to sign it, because there was a lot of documentation for the court so that process has now progressed on to the debt collection, where now it has reached the court to recover. I took a decision that I think I can fight the directorship later on. I'm part of the team. Let me sign so that money can be collected.” Ziga enquired of Kamodi why Engelbrecht had submitted her name as director instead of “that other gentleman”. Kamodi answered: “I didn't ask him why he put me there. I asked him if I can have another person because I'm not the one running the show here. I asked for another person because it was a big company handling a big mandate in terms of the value of the money.” Ziga also asked her if “you became responsible for Prime Employee Benefit (one of the companies under BFM Group) Kamodi: “Prime had no accounting officer. Even at NBFIRA, there was no one responsible for Prime. I was the CFO of the group, and by virtue of that I extended my roles to Prime. I was made a director unaware.” Ziga asked if Kamodi “didn't sign anything at all to be a director?” To this she responded: “No, I didn't.” Ziga asked Kamodi if she never investigated how her name made it to Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) without her signing anything because “my understanding is that for you to be a director, I may be wrong, you have to sign a consent.” Kamodi said she didn't sign any adding that the company secretary was one Relebeng Magosi. “And when you asked him how he had named you as a director, without you saying, what did he say?” Ziga asked. Kamodi said Magosi informed her “he was told to do so because even similarly, I realise that I'm a director for Bluthorn Academy. I've never accepted that role.” Ziga pressed on: “B-Thorn, it shows that you were a director from the 1 st of January 2018 to the 8th of October 2019. Do you know anything about that?” Kamodi replied: “I didn’t know that until now. I'm hearing from you for the first time that I'm a director there.” Ziga: “Yes, the CIPA records reflect that. We checked yesterday. And then that you became a director of Prime on the 12 th of March 2018 until the 24 th of February 2020. But then, that probably means somebody must have signed on your behalf because I don't believe you can be a director without signing that?’ Kamodi: “Definitely. That's what it means.” Ziga then asked: “And then BFM. What about your shareholding, the 10 percent?” Kamodi: “The company approached us and said there was a product from BPOPF through which were doing some incubation programme to boost the local environment, local companies and asset managers. So the company wanted to position itself for that product and said we need also to appear like a local company. So shares were given to employees so that BFM can also appear like a local company.” Ziga: “Oh, okay. Because according to Mr. Matome and Mr. Mosimane, they worked very hard for that. Ten percent. So you're saying it was basically intended to boast a citizen participation component?” Ziga also wanted to know if “basically, it was intended to be a front. Would I be correct to say that?” Kamodi responded: “The word was we are boosting to be locally… to compete locally. So we needed to have a different certain shape.” Ziga: “Yes. So that you can go to BPOPF and say we've got local shareholders. They are Matome, Batsalelwang, Mosimane and Kamodi. They each hold 10 percent and then the other shareholders, Bluthorn Holdings, which in turn is held indirectly by Mr. Engelbrecht and Mr. Sibisibi. Yes, that would be the structure that you present?” Kamodi: “That was the structure, yes. At one point I wanted to take back my shares. It was when we were trying to manage the conflict; when I was moving from BFM but I was not allowed to do that.” [/ihc-hide-content]

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How BPOPF escaped being fleeced Millions in Bluthorn Mess

…as names of citizens were used for fronting companies

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How BPOPF escaped being fleeced Millions in Bluthorn Mess

…as names of citizens were used for fronting companies

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