The First National Bank Botswana (FNBB) has dismissed allegations that a Mauritian investment company transferred P8 billion (€500 million) into an account held at the bank through an international transaction.
This is contained in an application in which the company has dragged FNB before the High Court, accusing the bank of withholding funds it insists were successfully transmitted, while FNB has flatly denied that such a transaction ever existed.
Court papers filed by Alithea Investment (Pty) Ltd reveal that the company is seeking an Anton Piller order — an extraordinary court remedy allowing the preservation and seizure of evidence — arguing that there is a risk that critical banking records relating to the disputed transfer could be destroyed or concealed.
Bogatsu’s email states that “We still do not have any trace of the funds. We communicated very clearly that: We do not rely on copies related to the transaction. The transaction was supposedly done via VISA GPI, a platform we don’t have in Botswana. Nonetheless, our teams checked the SWIFT rails; no such transaction exists.”
The dispute centres on what Alithea says was a €500 million (about P8 billion) SWIFT MT103 Global Payments Innovation (GPI) transfer allegedly initiated by Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt, on April 8, 2026, into Alithea’s foreign currency account held at FNB Botswana. The company alleges that the funds were settled on April 15 but were never credited to its account.
However, according to court documents, FNBB Chief Executive Officer Steven Bogatsu rejected the company’s assertions.
The court papers show that on April 16, Bogatsu sent an email copied to Phenyo Butale and senior officials involved in the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme, stating that there was “no trace” of the funds.
The papers further allege that Bogatsu stated that the payment had supposedly been processed via “VISA GPI”, that no transaction could be found on SWIFT systems, and that Deutsche Bank had no record of the transaction, before concluding that the matter was closed.
Bogatsu’s email states that “We still do not have any trace of the funds. We communicated very clearly that: We do not rely on copies related to the transaction. The transaction was supposedly done via VISA GPI, a platform we don’t have in Botswana. Nonetheless, our teams checked the SWIFT rails; no such transaction exists.”
It further states “The client’s bankers do not seem to have a record of the same. Our team has reached out to the originating bank to communicate to FNB via SWIFT; they also do not have any records of the transaction. Established protocols for such transactions are done via SWIFT rails and, outside of these protocols, unfortunately we cannot assist. I believe we have given enough guidance on this matter.”
Alithea director Vinay Roopchand, who deposed the founding affidavit, submits that “the records are wholly within FNB’s custody and control”.
According to the papers, Butale formally invited the company to invest under the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme after engaging the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre to identify a commercial bank capable of receiving the funds.
“The Applicant has no independent access thereto,” Roopchand states in the affidavit, arguing that only the bank possesses the internal SWIFT logs, settlement records and compliance documents needed to determine what happened to the funds.
Roopchand further alleges that the transaction was undertaken after Botswana authorities encouraged the investment.
According to the papers, Butale formally invited the company to invest under the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme after engaging the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre to identify a commercial bank capable of receiving the funds.
Alithea says it subsequently opened an account with FNB after receiving written assurances from the bank’s Treasurer, Tshepie Mokgethi-Magapa, that FNB could process SWIFT MT103 GPI international transfers and that Botswana had no exchange-control restrictions on inward remittances.
The company says it later entered into a €500 million investment agreement with The Best International Service Co. Ltd., represented by chief executive José Luis Varón Aranda, before the disputed transfer was allegedly initiated through Deutsche Bank AG.
