Carter Morupisi escapes jail

 

Disgraced former Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP) Carter Morupisi has been saved from serving a jail sentence after he was found guilty of money laundering and two counts of corruption.

On Wednesday, High Court Judge Christopher Mokwadi Gabanagae handed down a two-year suspended sentence to Morupisi after he was found guilty on the count of abuse of office. He was ordered to pay a fine of P50 000 for receiving a bribe. If he defaults he will face a five-year jail sentence.

For money laundering he has been ordered to pay a fine of P80 000 or face an eight-year jail sentence if he defaults the payment.

According to the High Court Judge, the court considered the nature of the crime, the personal circumstances of the accused and the interest of the society in the case when making the judgement.

Judge Gabanagae ordered that the Land Cruiser, which was allegedly bought with proceeds of crime be forfeited to the state.

Two years ago Morupisi alongside his wife, Pinny, was dragged to court on allegations of corruption, abuse of office and money laundering.

According to court documents, in November 2014 whilst still board chairman of Botswana Public Officers Pensions Fund (BPOPF) Morupisi corruptly awarded Capital Management Botswana (CMB) a contract to manage BPOPF funds, which move was not authorised by the board.

Furthermore, Morupisi was found guilty of authorising CMB to administer BPOPF funds without a final resolution of the board, as at the time he gave CMB the rights, the BPOPF board was still suspended.

The contract that Morupisi gave to CMB saw CMB managing over P500 million of pensioners’ assets and monies. Morupisi’s other charge emanated from receiving a bribe in the form of a Toyota land cruiser.

The R630 988,99 vehicle was purchased in South Africa by a South African company called Manor Squad which has ties with CMB, it was registered as property of R7, Morupisi’s wife’s company.

However, Morupisi argued that he had enough funds to pay for the car himself but the judge did not agree with him, citing that it was a bit suspicious that he began to make regular payments for the car only after he discovered that he was under investigation.

Morupisi has always maintained his innocence, citing that he has for over 34 years maintained an upright moral standing as a public servant and he has been a good example to youngsters whom are born in less privileged families.