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06:55Last update on: 13 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Tue 13 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
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NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-07-25
Rössing recovers N$2,9m ‘lost’ in payment scam
Adam Hartman
RIO Tinto’s Rössing Uranium has “fully recovered” the N$2,9 million loss it incurred through a banking scam the company fell victim to at the beginning of this year.
This was the answer given by Penda Kiiyala (photo), General Manager for External Relations and Communities at the mine, when The Namibian inquired about the status quo of the stolen money.
It was all Kiiyala was prepared to share, saying that it was a “private matter” to the company and therefore it was not necessary to provide more information.
As to how a large global corporation such as Rio Tinto, that has been around for 140 years, with 71 000 employees in more than 40 countries across six continents, fell victim and lost nearly N$3 million to what is considered a common scam, is a question on many people’s lips.
Asked if the company has at least learned from this experience and now has systems in place to, in future, identify and avoid such damaging tricks by fraudsters, Kiiyala said “yes there is”, and that was where any further information to fill in the gaps was stopped.
In January, Rössing paid N$2,9 million into a false TransNamib account, which was opened in South Africa.
It was because the company fell for a trick by a so-called ‘419 scam’ (a name derived from similar Nigerian banking scams where fraudulent company letterheads and fake bank confirmation letters are sent out with instructions that money be paid into the wrong bank accounts).
The mine made the deposit in response to a letter on a TransNamib letterhead, which stated that TransNamib’s bank account details had changed, and gave the number of the purported new bank account.
The letter was signed by a certain Sandra Stuurman, “for Accounts and Admin”, as well as a forged signature purported to be that of Sara Naanda, the then deputy chairperson of the TransNamib board and recently appointed CEO of TransNamib.
When TransNamib did not receive the money, its debtor’s department followed up on the outstanding payment. The entire N$2,9 million paid into the South African bank account was withdrawn almost immediately after it was deposited.
TransNamib’s Tjaronda ruled out any possibility of involvement by TransNamib staff, saying that Rössing had unfortunately fallen for a scam, which the Bank of Namibia (BoN) had warned companies of in the first week of November last year.
As to how the money was recovered, Kiiyala would not say.
This was the answer given by Penda Kiiyala (photo), General Manager for External Relations and Communities at the mine, when The Namibian inquired about the status quo of the stolen money.
It was all Kiiyala was prepared to share, saying that it was a “private matter” to the company and therefore it was not necessary to provide more information.
As to how a large global corporation such as Rio Tinto, that has been around for 140 years, with 71 000 employees in more than 40 countries across six continents, fell victim and lost nearly N$3 million to what is considered a common scam, is a question on many people’s lips.
Asked if the company has at least learned from this experience and now has systems in place to, in future, identify and avoid such damaging tricks by fraudsters, Kiiyala said “yes there is”, and that was where any further information to fill in the gaps was stopped.
In January, Rössing paid N$2,9 million into a false TransNamib account, which was opened in South Africa.
It was because the company fell for a trick by a so-called ‘419 scam’ (a name derived from similar Nigerian banking scams where fraudulent company letterheads and fake bank confirmation letters are sent out with instructions that money be paid into the wrong bank accounts).
The mine made the deposit in response to a letter on a TransNamib letterhead, which stated that TransNamib’s bank account details had changed, and gave the number of the purported new bank account.
The letter was signed by a certain Sandra Stuurman, “for Accounts and Admin”, as well as a forged signature purported to be that of Sara Naanda, the then deputy chairperson of the TransNamib board and recently appointed CEO of TransNamib.
When TransNamib did not receive the money, its debtor’s department followed up on the outstanding payment. The entire N$2,9 million paid into the South African bank account was withdrawn almost immediately after it was deposited.
TransNamib’s Tjaronda ruled out any possibility of involvement by TransNamib staff, saying that Rössing had unfortunately fallen for a scam, which the Bank of Namibia (BoN) had warned companies of in the first week of November last year.
As to how the money was recovered, Kiiyala would not say.
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