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One of two women from Ficksburg in the Free State arrested regarding the defrauding of the Lesotho central bank of millions of rands, gave birth to a baby while in police custody. The woman, Lerato Marcious Lisene (37), reportedly went into labour days before reappearing in court for her bail application hearing.
She was due to reappear in the Ficksburg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 13 March, together with her alleged accomplice, Uthando Lorraine Modise (37). The latter appeared alone for bail application. The two women are allegedly part of an organised syndicate consisting of South African and Lesotho citizens who colluded to defraud Lesotho’s central bank of about R57 million between 2020 and 2021.
WO Fikiswa Matoti, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, said Lisene had her bail application postponed to 4 April and was remanded in custody until her next appearance. She said Modise was granted bail of R5 000 with conditions on Wednesday. The latter is the director of the company Traggulogy (Pty) Ltd, one of the eight companies linked to the defrauding of the bank. Modise and Lisene are thus far the only two South Africans arrested in connection with the bank fraud, while the Lesotho Mounted Police Service has arrested ten people in Lesotho.
Matoti said the investigation revealed the fraud was committed with the assistance of Lesotho officials.
“The officials, who after intercepting vouchers meant for legitimate service providers, diverted payments to their co-conspirators in South Africa. With the help of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), it was established that money was channelled into different South African banks under different accounts of the companies,” said Matoti.
