Three men facing two counts of robbery were on Wednesday remanded by Principal Magistrate Gofaone Mosweu for allegedly robbing a 60-year-old woman residing in Matlapana money amounting to P53 500 and property worth P256,000. On the second count, the accused persons are alleged to have robbed another couple in Matlapana property amounting to P52,000 on September 1st at around 2300hrs and respectively.
The accused persons who pleaded not guilty have been linked to a string of robberies of a similar nature across the country are identified as Releseng Tshekiso (30) of Old Naledi, Thuso Manuedi (40) of Bontleng, and Lloyd Lone Matlhaga (26) of Gaborone West, all residing in Gaborone.
On committing both robberies the accused persons are said to have been armed with crow bars, knives, short logs and wearing balaclavas. Around August this year the suspects are said to have robbed two people on two different occasions in Gantsi before proceeding to Maun where they committed robberies – a case which is not yet before court. Their last stop was in Otse village where they robbed one person and were later arrested.
Particulars of the offence are that on the first count the accused persons robbed their first victim, Katherine Ives money mounting to P53 500 which they transferred to themselves through cell phone banking. They went on to rob the victim property worth P256,000. On the second count they robbed the old woman’s husband, Martin Ives by forcefully stripping off his property worth P52,000. During the robbery the accused persons reportedly assaulted the husband and threatened Katherine to transfer money through Pay-to-Cell to a number linked to one of the accused.
Pleading for the accused persons to be denied bail, the Investigating Officer (IO), Detective Assistant Commissioner, Sergeant Marapo argued that they are yet to arrest other two suspects involved in the robbery.
He pleaded for the accused persons to be remanded arguing that they are yet to recover items stolen by them. He further argued that they are yet to locate other suspects that may be involved in the robberies.
He presented his findings during the proceedings, urging the court to remand the suspects due to the strength of the evidence and the risk of interference with ongoing investigations.
“I plead with the court to keep the suspects in custody as we continue our investigations. There is a significant risk that they may interfere with our investigation or tamper with evidence associated with the case, as the money has been located but none of the belongings have returned,” Marapo stated.
Marapo revealed that the key piece of evidence tying the three suspects to the crime was a phone number used during the robbery, which was allegedly registered under Tshekiso but allegedly linked to Manuedi’s bank account and the sim card was also found to have been allegedly used in Matlhaga’s phone, suggesting a close connection between the three.
He further revealed that his investigation uncovered that the same phone number had been used in a series of similar robberies across Ghanzi, Maun (Disaneng case yet to be brought before court), Otse, and Kanye. In each case, the alleged robbers, were five men masked in balaclavas, who reportedly forced victims to transfer funds to the same number.
Marapo explained that the number had only contacted the FNB call centre during its lifetime of use, hinting at a sophisticated criminal operation. He also added that funds sent to the account in question have been transferred to a different FNB account which they are yet to locate and arrest the owner. He noted that they have since frozen the accounts pending investigations.
The first accused person Tshekiso did not saying anything regarding the bail application however he denied registering the number in question. For his part, the second accused person Manuedi pleaded to be granted bail arguing that he is the sole provider of his three children. He denied registering an FNB account with the cellphone number in question.
The third accused person Matlhaga pleaded to be granted bail arguing that he takes care of his sick mother with transportation to and from work. He further argued that he is not a flight risk and cannot interfere with investigation since his mobile phone, which is the only thing which links him to the crime has been confiscated.
Despite the three men pleading not guilty, the court denied their request for bail. Mosweu concurred with Marapo’s assertions, arguing that remanding the suspects was necessary for the investigation to proceed without interference.
The accused will appear on the 17th September for status update.
