Detective flees

feature photo

MASERU — An investigator with the anti-corruption unit has fled the country following death threats, the Lesotho Times can reveal.

Abiel Monare, an investigator with the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO), fled the country last Wednesday.

He skipped the country around noon, with only a small bag, a blazer and his phones.

Sources in the DCEO said Monare fled after he allegedly received death threats from some police officers.

The sources said the threats could be connected to some of the cases Monare had been investigating.

Monare is now hiding somewhere in South Africa.

He confirmed he had gone into hiding but did not want to go public about his troubles due to security and professional reasons.

“All I can say for now is that I have fled the country because my life is in danger. Beyond that I cannot say anything,” Monare said on Tuesday this week.

This paper can however reveal that Monare was investigating four senior government officials in connection with human trafficking involving Chinese nationals.

The case involves a government minister, two principal secretaries and a deputy principal secretary who are suspected to be operating a human trafficking syndicate.

The Lesotho Times has withheld their names because investigations are still in progress and the paper is yet to gather enough evidence to substantiate the allegations.

The investigation started in July last year after a group of 26 Chinese nationals landed at the Moshoeshoe I Airport with questionable travel documents.

The group which had chartered a plane from Mozambique was deported after being detained at the airport for nearly two days.

The DCEO suspected that they were either being trafficked into Lesotho or were using the country as a corridor into South Africa.

The four senior government officials were immediately listed as suspects together with two other Chinese nationals based in Lesotho.

Some officials in Lesotho’s Embassy in China were also named as potential suspects. As part of the scheme the victims would be given Lesotho passports to make it easier for them to enter South Africa and the rest of the world.

Others would be used as prostitutes in Lesotho.

This paper knows the hotel from which the alleged sex slaves are said to be operating.

On August 13 last year Monare and his immediate boss, senior investigator Thabiso Thibeli, and a senior police officer called Senooe left for China.

They arrived in Beijing on the following day and started their investigation.

And by the time they left Beijing on August 25 they had interviewed officials at the embassy and seized boxes of documents related to visa applications.

They also interviewed a man called Niu Kang who is alleged to have confirmed that he was an agent of “senior people in Lesotho”.

Kang is also said to have confessed to being paid M58 000 for every Chinese national he delivered to Lesotho.

The day before Monare and his colleagues left for China the DCEO had arrested a Butha-Buthe based Chinese businessman identified only as Aping.

Aping had been arrested because he was suspected to be part of the human trafficking syndicate but he was released a few hours later under suspicious circumstances.

The DCEO also suspected that the embassy officials, the four government officials and Aping were working with a Maseru-based Chinese national called Shen Jun.

But when they went to his home in Hillsview they were told that Jun who is well-known as Pang-Pang (The Fat One) had vanished.  It is suspected that he is now holed up in Johannesburg.

Sources in the DCEO this week said although the investigation into the case has been completed no charges have been preferred against the four government officials and their alleged accomplices.

Around the time he was investigating the human trafficking case Monare also launched a probe into the Ministry of Finance’s Wool and Mohair project.

Civa Innovations Management, a company whose core business is to organise accommodation for Basotho students in South Africa, was awarded a tender to help run the project.

Civa is a South African company that is registered in Lesotho as a foreign firm.

The incongruence between the company’s core business and the nature of the contract it had been awarded is said to have triggered the DCEO’s investigation.

Monare was appointed the lead investigator for that case. The DCEO suspects that the project could have been a front to siphon money from the government.

Queries have also been raised as to why the project is being run by the Ministry of Finance when it is related to agriculture.

Earlier this year the DCEO went to the Wool and Mohair Project offices at the Finance Ministry to seize some documents and computer hard drives.

They also raided Civa’s offices in the Maseru Industrial Area. An analysis of the company’s bank accounts has shown that some of the money from the Wool and Mohair project is being used to pay salaries for staff at a restaurant in Maseru.

This paper has not seen concrete evidence proving that the project was being used to steal money from government.

Monare was also a member of the DCEO team that was investigating a Ministry of Finance official who was said to have looted from the Old Age Pension Scheme.

The woman who was based at the Mohale’s Hoek post office before she was transferred to Maseru is suspected to have siphoned millions from the scheme.

That money, the DCEO suspected, had been used to build a mansion and create a substantial property portfolio.

During the same period Monare was also investigating a Finance Ministry official who has bought four 4×4 twincab vehicles.  The size of the purchase had raised suspicions that the officials could have been involved in some corrupt activities.

Before he left the country Monare told his colleagues at the DCEO that his life was under threat.

Two of his colleagues have confirmed that Monare indeed told him about the threats before he fled the country.

This paper also understands that Deputy Prime Minister Lesao Lehohla who is also the Minister of Home Affairs has been informed about the threats.

Acting Police Commission Kizito Mhlakaza has also been briefed and the army’s intelligence unit is said to have been tasked to provide him with security. Last night the army said it knew nothing about Munare’s issue.

Sources said Monare started receiving threats late last year.

The threats, the source said, were coming from one of the police officers stationed at the Treasury Department.

Last Wednesday morning the same officer called Monare again and ordered him to come to the treasury department.

When Monare refused to comply the officer is alleged to have told him that he will be dead.

That was when Monare packed his bag and left the country.

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There Are 58 Responses So Far. »

  1. Khele!!!!!!!

  2. Hona hona ke mofets’e. Ho hlakile ho busetsa LCD/DC pusong taba li le tjena ke ho senya le ho feta.

  3. Ha ho hlake les..e le bone tsela.

  4. Lia mela lia hloeba kecha kele motala.

  5. The project is being used to pay salaries for staff at a restaurant in Maseru.( i suspect O/Basket in the Mall.Always i have seen Ps Finance Sitting there.Athe Ps Home affairs o ja resturants tsa machaena feela.There is something terrible looming here.

  6. Molimo kajeno o arabile lithapelo tsa rona. Tsohle li tla utoloha Monare ha a sireletsoe hle a phelele bana ba hae le basotho hase bohle ba tla phela ka tjotjo, Monare is a brave man we need people like him in this country. Maponesa sireletsang Monare

    Re khathetse ke mamenemene ana a mapolesa le matona le li PS .Aa ‘muso o soto oa bokatana khelek!!

  7. Mona ke Lesotho,ha se ha ‘ma motho hohang…watch out!

  8. Ekae taba eo Monare a neng a e utulle Min. of Finance & Dev. Planning (MFDP) ka tender ea Victory le LGCC moo batho ba bang ba kahare-hare lekaleng ba ileng ba sebetsa in accomplice bomenemeneng le batho bao ba seng ba le baholo tsamaisong? Ho thoe esale nyeoe e butsoe ‘me ha e-so sebetsoe empa Monare o se a ntse a tsosoa!

  9. Khilik! Sis! Phew!Hmm! Jesus Christ! God Forbid! Minister, PS’s in such crime. Lestime please gather enough so you name and shame these people in the next issue.

    Pheko ke ho tlosa ‘muso ona oa macongresse(CD/LCD)otherwise this rot will continue and worse, lives will be lost.

  10. Thank you Lesotho times for proving me correct. When the case errupted last year I said I said “Blame LCD”. Some half nots on this forum accused me of ‘hating LCD”. I responded that it is their deeds that I hate. Corruption, Nepotism etc. I have always suspected that all the LCD ministers have to bear the blame of such an influx of Chinese in our country. LCD bears the blamefor all these. DC or CD also bears the blame for this. Keep it up Lesotho times. These CD bustards have corrupted each and evry institution on this land. nxa, sis. Sis Potoana, sis!!!

  11. Ho setseng ho phela ke hore rea tseba SAKARETE ke ena monga ketso tsena, Les times ea molimo kea e utloela ka ho ts’aba ho bolela hore ke ena ho sireletsa maphelo a bona base tlohe ba phaphatheha joalo ka monna eane oa DECO. Ke soabela fela hobane u apara le seaparo ale tjena fela u etsa ketso tse soto.

  12. Ho setseng ho phela ke hore rea tseba SAKARETE ke ena monga ketso tsena tsa human trafficking le bo mphato ba hae. Les times ea molimo kea e utloela ka ho ts’aba ho bolela hore ke ena ho sireletsa maphelo a bona base tlohe ba phaphatheha joalo ka monna eane oa DECO. Ke soabela fela hobane u apara le seaparo ale tjena fela u etsa ketso tse soto.

  13. @Oa maliba SAKATETE ke mang

  14. Hona hona ke meleko, che mccd le matona a hao, he re utloile ke lona, ekaba likhetho litla fihla neng, sis….

  15. Ke eona LCD e hloekileng.

  16. this how corrupt individuals work,what is our prime minister who is claiming to fight corruption saying with regard to this?this country is headin in the wrong direction ,the top beaurecrats have to be removed before they run down the country ,such serious allegations and no one from the cabinet is saying anything?how will people fight corruption when they are not protected?there will be no whistleblowers if this persists.such is the DC-led government,corrupt to the core.sies

  17. Ke mesebetsi ea boleqetsi eo,tsena ke linyane haeba ba nahana hore likhapha tsa basotho ba ba ntseng ba thetsoa ke size 2 libokeng moo li tla oela fatse, taba li ngata ‘me li tla tsoa ka bonngoe. Akere joale ho thoe tse ntle li entsoe ke DC, ha lile mpe ho thoe DC ene sobe teng. That was a stupid move MCCD, only fools will fall for that le batho ba illitrate mahaeng koana eleng bona bao ho bonahalang hore o bapalla ho bona. SIS, o etsa ntho tse soabisang

  18. Ya!

  19. EA FOFA PITSANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! kh`ueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

  20. Hmm, shame!

  21. Ntate MCCD o ne are “name them and shame them!”, Lesotho Times and Monare , we need the names of those Ministers, Principal Secs and the rest of ém!The names should be communicated to MCCD a tsebe ho etsa seo a neng a tsepise hore o tla se etsa ka corrupt officers!

  22. Monare you will die young, ako tlohelle taba tsa Lesotho o tsebe ho phela ka khotso. Batho bana ba busang le Liabolosi ha a sa ba batla hobane ba tsoile taolong ho feta tekano.I’m scrared ha re hopola bo Lekhoaba le ba bang ba koetsoeng molomo. Just love urself enough man.

  23. What a bad advise Pong pong!

  24. Helang lona lisatane tsa mapolesa letle le bolae Monare feela le tlo nyale hobane re tseba mabitso a lona! Le its’oere hampe ha kakang,Lesotho mona batho batla nyea. Le ntse etsa bobolu ha le qeta le batla bo-Monare ba thole litaba tsee tsa lona, le tlo bona bo-mosalimoholo.

    Ha kere puso ya sechaba ka sechaba ha ke e batle motho a nkutloe. Monare o tsoetsoe joaloka lona likatana tsa ma E. re qenehetse hore le khola chelete e nyanyane athe le lisatane! Ho bona Mosisili ya etsang boipiletso bona o ba tebele!

  25. le ne lere mapolesa a eme a shebelle monare ha a ntsa ja chelete ea maqheku e patuoeng kahara mabekere a powdered milk khoeli e ngoe le e ngoe ha ho ilo kholisoa maqheku a ja share kaha joale o tseba ho pokhotsa target tsa mohlomphehi a li ts’osa ka linyeoe ere ha a qeta ebe o ntsa leketlisa marete a lelekisa batho ba bang are ba bolile ? Ba mo nepile Lesotho o tla le supa ka kooma a le mono moo ba mo patileng teng bo mahaletere kaha joale o setsoe morao ke ntja tsa mapolesa, lona bahabo le tla mobonela hona moo a patuoeng teng empa hee bonyane chelete ea hae ea moputso e setse le tla sala le enyofa akere ?

  26. khelek! Hona ke taba. Batho bohle baileng DC keba balehang litaba tsena tsa Corruption. Esale ke makalletse taba ena ea CIVA ka hara naha! Ke tseba monga oona hape ke ea tseba na u nkile Franchise efeng ka CHELETE ea e fumaneng ka bobolu!

  27. I repeat: Batho Bohle ba JOINENG DC keba balehang litaba tsa BOBOLU. Ha DC eka hloloa feela retlo koalla batho ba bangata hampe!

  28. Motho eno u ile a reka KOLOI tse turu kahofitisisa esale hore a fihle LESOTHO mona, ke bua ka monga CIVA – Jeep 2011 top of the Range, Lexus SUV RX450h, Merc AMG, Land Cruiser VX, and others simple one: Land Cruiser Pick up x 2, D4D double cabs x 3! That guy is a multi-millionaire ka chelete tsa sechaba.

  29. Gud pple ha ho ntho eo re ka e buoang hantle objectively without political interference? Hav we totally lost faith in our country’s justice system? Lets report fraud ‘n corruption re be re fane ka bopaki bo bonahalang so dat criminals cn be apprehended regardles of who dey a, le re batho ba leqetsa bt u dont provide real evidence for dat 2 de police, y? Re le tshepe joang? Kannete IN DC I TRUST.

  30. Truth, lona mosebetsi oa lona ke hotlo t’sireletsa batho bano ba leqelitseng! You are actually Desperate Crooks!

  31. @Truth, you are pathetic! You are actually being used as SCAPEGOATS by those corrupt criminal. DC ke party e batlang hotlo polosa batho bohle ba jeleng chelete ea SECHABA. Look, all those guys who got BLOCK FARMING monies are in DC. They owe us Millions, your secretary general Mokose owes BASOTHO close to TEN Million!

  32. Keo taaba!haba ratane hohang,haese lerato la chelete.

  33. Ke ea kholoa joale makoala a bo mohlakaza ha ho hlaha tse tjena litaba tsa bo monare moo ho thoeng ele baokameli ba ile ba tsebisoa ka litsoso tse isoang ho monare ke ea kholoa ha a toeresele lekhale osa ntsa itatola hore eena ha a tsebe letho, he tsotsi e joalo ea moruti

  34. Twang Woo! You are very hot! Ministry of Corruption and Enrichment of the few. Ebe CIA e tla nka sebolu see sa eona neng? Khele! Re lekehile.

  35. @lillo tsa ka
    U re mapolesa a feng coz ho thoe o fumane lits’oso ho tsoa ho ona mapolesa? hm

  36. Oa bona ha Pakalitha akare o tebela machina Lesotho moo nka mokhetha hee mehlolo elimapana e re tenne eo. Hake sa utloa joale, ele hore Lesotho moo whn u invstigate bobolu o ea mobe u drsv 2 die? Ae hleng Basotho rea kae? Maponesa ‘ona a ea ‘nyonts’a i dnt evn i want to comment ka ona,le bano babaholo pusong

  37. Monare o tsamaile hantle. Linaha tse ling li ka thabela motho ea kang eeo. win lesotho le boralipolotiki le bohle ba ba sebeletsang. win. ke utloa lesotho e le naha eeo ke e nyonyang ka baka la corruption le nepotism. Run for your dear life ntate Monare.

  38. He ea re luba LCD ka bobolu. It is the LCD that bears all the blame. They kept on refusing when we exposed the scale of corruption in their administration. At some stage they even boasted “ka ho leqetsa”. There was even the time when every jack and jill in town was boasting “nyea supplier nyea supplier”. Or one would say “Rea ja rona uena u sale le toalanyana(ABC) eno ea hau”. Those were the LCD guys. Ona ma LCD ana a seng are they are different from DC. I will never forget an instance in whiich one LCD guy boasted by selling an arm chair to one PS for R45 000. That cair had cost around R3000. At some stage one guy (we were at NUL together although he was studyng those softer courses) would boast having sold a can of coke at R50, a liter of juice at R74 to prime ministers office. I was like LCD should be a breed of corruption.

  39. Ache joale tjena,NA BASOTHO LEA BONA HORE RE ETELLETSOE PELE KE BARA LE BARALI BA SATANE?

  40. Bottom line is Monare isnt a lonesome investigator. He works in a team and he reports to a senior official plus the investigation results are not stored in his brain but in hard copies and soft copies. Killing him wont change anything because the investigations will sill go on and the suspects will still be brought to book, unless if they wipe off the entire investigating team.

  41. Fotsek ka bobolu ba Lesotho.

  42. Hona ke bobolu bo pala,bana bareng ba latela mccd le CD ea bona batla qetella base bale ka hara lihele.Monare potela boy hoba lira li tonne mahlo.

  43. @ Truth

    Moetapele eo oa hau o tla qosoa joang a le kaholimo ho molao? Akere o ikentse molingoana oa Lesotho. Ke ipotsa fela hore na oa tseba hore na system ea molao e tsamaea joang malebana le melingoana? Bo Lehata ba jele chelete ea Block Farming e bile o ile a etsa confess ka taba ena. Joale ba tla qosoa joang e le baetsana ba Size 2?

    Hape ke Ntja e feng e ka lomang monga eona ea e fepang?. Hoja DCEO e ne e na le boikemelo ho kabe ho ts’oeroe batho ba bangata hampe. U tlo bone hore ho tla etsahala joang kamora li 26 May ha ‘muso ona o corrupt oa Size 2 o oela. Motho o tlabe a lakatse eka lefats’e le taboha a kena.

    Enoa eo ba reng ke Mahaletere re tla bona na o tla feta ka borokhong ka taxi ea ‘muso a eo rekisa litaemane tsena tseo a ntseng a li mokola ka bobolu

  44. ke soabile hona hoo kaha kene ke nahana hore Monare haa buee ‘nete, empa ke kopane le investigator tsa DCEO and they confirmed these allegations ebile ba soabile ha ba utloa hore Thibeli o re haa so re ke Monare ea monehelletseng ka LRA feela taba ena a e buile ka meeting oa bona oa investigations… sis, thibeli!!!

  45. Ache basotho hantle rea kae? Seo kesa se utloeng ke hore na Monare ha antsa litaba ha sireletsoe ke eng? Hape y mapolesa a sa etse investigate litaba tsa monare kahore ba batle lethathamo tsa liphone tsohle tse letselitseng Monare ka letsatsi leo? Kapo empa ele hore ha ba batle ho mothusa ba batla hore batho baa ba bona ba tsoelepele ho etsa corruption kannete batho baheso hantle kahara naha corrption is the best tool ever ha motho a batla ho phela hamonate

  46. Thibeli o kopanya metsi le ole. O qala pele ka hore Monare ke e mong oa li-inspector tse tsoeleng matsoho. Feela ha a qeta, u re Monare o kopanya lipatlisiso le lipolotiki. Li amana kae litaba tsee? Hobane haho moo ke utloang le Monare a lla ka lipolotiki? Thibeli e tsebang seo re tlamehileng ho se tseba ka litaba tsa polotiki le machina?

    2nd Note: Is Thibeli fit to be an officer officing ea DCEO? Ke botsa tjena hore motho oa boemo ba hae is a “tax evader”, ebe re tla mo ts’epa joang? Kapa is it “send a criminal to catch another criminal?”

  47. @Thabiso Mofula

    che oa bua masepa he morena,ke bona eka oja le bona….

  48. Hao banna! La ahlama ha kaale ka Monare oa sebolu. Monare ke team player e strategic ea Lcdc moo e saleng ele borakana ba Molelek…ke hopola d dude a furaletsoe ke LEVOSA la nakong eo, boMOSAE,’MAMONARE,RAMAKEOANE,MOCHOBOROANE…Monare o ne a fetuhile mmutla lintjeng ka ho emela MOLELEKISM AKA lija-mollo Mosisili Democratic Congress. Monare is not a victim but a very important piece on board… He is not deployed there 4 no good reason, dnt b amazed when u find out dt d said minister might be of d Lcd barbaric affilliate, ebe ke mang… Ketso? Thahane…mhh…? Tsekoa? Lehohla, Mahase? Ekare kea utloa a fua litaelo, ” anything dirty ka liphoqo tsena. Mokola oa nomora ka Mr.Monare.”

  49. @Pakiso…o khoehlile ka hanong!
    Ntate Monare u ba laile oa ba beha pooaneng. Feela hee ka ha mokotla oa chelete le arapo a puso a tsoere ke bona li tla fella moeeng joaloka tse ling. Joale hee Basotho bonang…ke ona `muso oo le tlo o khetha hore u le sebeletse oo? Hona ke mesebetsi ea liabolosi!

  50. ka mokhoa teng

  51. Hona ke bosatane ,ke hore satane satane satane o kenelletse masapong a batho ba bang nxa ! ke utloa ke nyonya ,ekare nka hlatsa ke libolu tsena ! fela ba bang bona 1 day ba tla ipatala ! Nxa

  52. Lesotho ke naha ea bosatane ele kannete, naha e busoang ke litlokotsebe. Please Lesotho times, we need to know the names of those two Permanent secretaries, deputy Secretary and that corrupt minister. This is no secret. You can’t hide or witheld the names of criminals in such a critical issue. We are suprised why there are so many Chinese nationals pouring into Lesotho almost everyday! just to hear corrupt minister and PSs & DPS involved in this syndicate. Phooooaaaaaa! That is the reason this South Africa hates Lesotho and its citizens this way, its because of these top govt officials monsters who commit such crimes themselves.

    Lesotho citizens struggle to get valid passports, only to find corrupt minister and his counterparts fraudulently issue Lesotho identity to illegal foreigners trafficked from their countries of origin. Please expose those corrupt monsters by mentioning their names in this newspaper. We want the world to know that some of the Lesotho ministers and Principal Secretaries are criminals and human traffickers. We are tired of these top govt officials criminals in this country. They do by all means to destroy the credibility of Lesotho to the international world. We must know those corrupt criminals wanting or plotting to kill Monare after exposing their criminal and corrupt activities. Basotho ba eteletsoe pele ke bobolu tse nkhang phuuuuu!!!

  53. Basotho ba eteletsoe pele ke libolu tse nkhang phuuuuuuu!

  54. The confused puril!!!!!!!!!!

  55. Concerned Citizen o hole nkabe ke o ts;oara ka letsoho, hee re khathetse ke libolu tsena tse etelletseng naha ena pele ere ke o joetse hore tlokotsi ena ea li passport tse rekoang ka M 100 eo basotho ba babg ba senang eona, hona tjna ke campaign eo babang ba bapolotiki ba ikhahang ka eona : 1. Lineo Molise o nka list ea batho ba hlokang thepa ena e passport ebe o nt’s koloi ea ‘muso ho tlisalist eo Maseru ‘me ha list eo e fihla ho tsoa taelo hore batho ba production ba emise ho etsetsa bakopi ba bang ebe joale ho printoa tsa batho bana ba hae li be li nkoe ka koloi hape ho li isa Hlotse ‘me le mokhoenyana oa tonakholo ea iketelanf DC Bela bela is doing the same thing ha batho ba lata pasa tsa bona ba fuoa form ea membership ea DC hore ba li tlatse, ache ke oele mabanta ke bobolu bo tjena ‘me ke khotsoe hore boholo ba batho ba joinneng DC ke bo ramenyetla !!

  56. It looks like Monare investigated everything, basebetsi ‘moho le eena athe bona ba sebetsa eng?

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