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Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - Web posted at 7:37:03 AM GMT Kobi's Nam investments total N$70m WERNER MENGESISRAELI-BORN businessman Jacob ('Kobi') Alexander, who is the target of an extradition request that the United States authorities lodged with Namibia's Government almost two years ago, claims he and his wife have already invested more than N$70 million in Namibia. |
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The Alexander couple's investments in Namibia range from housing development projects at Walvis Bay, large-scale property purchases at the same town and Langstrand, the buying of a private residence in Windhoek and loans that were advanced to Namibian businesses, to the financing of a game farm purchased by businessman and comedian Lazarus Jacobs, charitable donations and educational sponsorships. This is according to documents that have been filed with the High Court as part of the latest case Alexander has lodged with the court. Alexander and his wife, Hana Alexander, were again in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday, this time for what was supposed to be the hearing of an urgent application that they and their three children have filed against the Minister of Home Affairs. Other respondents cited are Immigration, the Chief of Immigration, and the Chairperson of the Immigration Selection Board. The hearing did not take place as planned, though, and was postponed to September 25. The application filed by Alexander and his family has been prompted by the imminent expiry of the two-year temporary residence permits granted to the family in late August 2006, two months before the US authorities filed a formal request for Alexander's extradition to the US. These permits all expire on August 31. Alexander and his family applied for new immigration permits on June 27, but have not yet received any reply, they informed the court. Alexander and his family want to ask the court to order that they may lawfully stay, work and attend school in Namibia, and that no immigration control officers may detain them or try to expel them from Namibia while their applications for new residence permits in Namibia remain pending and until Alexander's extradition hearing - likewise pending - has been finalised. Alexander is wanted in the US on charges relating to allegations that he had committed fraud with the receipt of stock options in Comverse Technology Inc, a New York-based company that he had helped found in 1982 and ran until early 2006. According to Alexander, the backdating of stock options that he is accused of is not illegal in the US, and he would plead not guilty and would "vigorously contest" the charges if he were to be returned to the US to be tried. A report on the investments Alexander claims to have made in Namibia since he and his family arrived in Namibia on July 28 2006 forms part of the documents filed with the High Court to set out the family's application to the court. In this report, Alexander stated that he transferred more than N$120,7 million, belonging to him and his wife, to Namibia in July 2006. The money was first kept in accounts with two local banks, but has since been transferred to the trust account of his lawyers, Metcalfe Legal Practitioners. Of this money, over N$70 million has so far been invested in Namibia, Alexander claims. At Walvis Bay, an 84-unit sectional title housing development, Eyuva Village, has been completed at Kuisebmond at a cost of more than N$15 million, Alexander stated. Also at Walvis Bay, another housing project, Shalom Park, which consists of 129 residential units, is being developed at a cost of N$11 million so far, with further development costs of N$3 million projected at this stage, he stated. Alexander added that he and his wife have also bought several other plots of land at Walvis Bay and Langstrand for possible future development of residential properties, a shopping centre at Kuisebmond and tourist accommodation at Langstrand. They have bought four erven at Langstrand at a combined price of N$6,85 million, while they paid N$1,8 million for an erf next to the Walvis Bay lagoon and another N$17,2 million for a further three seafront plots of land at Langstrand, according to Alexander. During 2006, he also advanced loans of N$5,9 million to a Windhoek-based vehicle repair business, Monarch Panelbeaters, which received a further loan of N$400 000 from him last year, Alexander added. The Alexanders' money has also been used to finance the purchase of a game farm, Okatunde, by Lazarus Jacobs, Alexander stated. According to Alexander, he and his wife advanced N$3,83 million for the purchase of the farm, which was registered in Jacobs's name as part of an agreement that Alexander and his wife would at some future time become joint owners of the farm with Jacobs. They have also advanced a loan of N$1,5 million to a local company, Paragon Investment Holdings, to enable it to buy a commercial property, Alexander stated. Jacobs is a leading shareholder of Paragon. An affidavit by Jacobs is part of the documents filed with the High Court. In it, Jacobs stated that Alexander lent Paragon N$3 million, of which half has been repaid interest free and the remaining N$1,5 million remains to be paid back. He and Alexander also entered into a business agreement in 2007 in terms of which he and Alexander agreed to buy and operate a hunting farm, Okatunde, in which they are to hold an equal members' interest, Jacobs stated. Alexander paid the full purchase price of N$3,75 million for the farm, with half of this advanced on Jacobs's behalf, according to Jacobs's affidavit. With this latest court application by Alexander postponed to late next month, Alexander is scheduled to make another appearance before a Magistrate in Windhoek in his still-pending extradition case on September 17. |
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