Man charged for swindling girlfriend of over P100k

CHARGED: Woto

A man accused of swindling his girlfriend of over P100 000, 00 from her bank account was this week Tuesday granted bail by a Lobatse Magistrates’ court.

According to the charge sheet, the accused, Mmusi General Woto (30), who is charged with a single count of theft, between May 6th, 2020 and May 17th, 2020 at Lobatse, in the Southern District, stole the sum of P108 305.29 belonging to Ofentse Molaodi.

Woto applied for bail after the prosecutor from DPP Bantekanye Dikago had told the court that the investigating officer was only left with one aspect to have completed investigations.

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“An order has been sent to First National Bank (FNB) and we are still waiting for their response. We have no fear that the accused may interfere with any investigations and we have no problem with him being admitted to a conditional bail,” said Dikago.

Woto pleaded for bail noting that he is a Motswana citizen also promising to avail himself in court all the time.

“I also request to meet the complainant to talk privately, the complainant is expecting my own child, I do not have any problem with her I just made a mistake,” said Woto who seemed to be taking the matter lightly.

Magistrate Kaveri Kapeko granted him a P1000.00 conditional bail and ordered him to attend court all times.

Sources close to the scene revealed that the 35-year-old Molaodi, an employee at Lobatse Fire Station started her relationship with Woto last year October.

The theft incident is said to have occurred when the unemployed Woto who was staying in Gaborone had visited Molaodi during national lock down in April.

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Molaodi had allegedly applied for a bank loan on April 5th, 2020 and it was approved on April 24th, 2020. 

After receiving the loan Molaodi allegedly gave some money to Woto together with her ATM card and sent him to buy the goods she needed in Gaborone.

She allegedly wanted to buy a TV set, radio, bed and cellphone. Woto is said to have advised her that the items were cheaper in Gaborone and she agreed to send him to Gaborone on May 5th to buy the said goods.

Upon arrival in Gaborone, Woto phoned Molaodi informing her that he had managed to buy the goods.

Two days later he told Molaodi that he was having difficulty applying for a travel permit to return to Lobatse and he started making excuses everyday before he stopped answering her calls.

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 When Molaodi checked her bank statement she noticed that her money was withdrawn and when she asked Woto, he allegedly claimed some conmen had swindled him of all the money.

According to the transaction history seen by this publication, Molaodi’s FNB account had a balance of P98,520.29 after P1000 00 was withdrawn on May 5th, 2020 and later on May 9th, 2020 the balance went down to P75 501.94. On May 12th, 2020 the balance was P45 780.19 till it reduced to P10 373.04 on May 15th, 2020 and finally P15.94 on May 16th, 2020.

The bank statement indicated that within three days, more than P20 000 cash was withdrawn from Molaodi’s bank account and that mostly the money was spent at clothing shops and several filling stations.

Woto will appear for mention on August 4th, 2020 when the court will be setting trial dates.

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