The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has arrested a Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra) tax officer over the alleged irregular issuance of a tax good standing certificate to Zong Mei Engineering (Pty) Ltd.
In a statement issued on 20 February, the ACC says the case relates to a certificate issued to the company despite alleged outstanding tax returns and tax debt owed to the receiver of revenue.
The ACC says tax officer Richard Oaseb, based in Windhoek, was arrested on 16 February after an investigation into allegations that a request was made to override the issuance process for the certificate.
According to the ACC, the override request was approved by Oaseb’s immediate supervisor on the same day, and the good standing certificate was then issued to the company.
The commission says the alleged offense took place on or near 9 May 2023 at or near the Namra office in Windhoek.
The matter came to light during a due diligence exercise by the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) before the awarding of a contract to Zong Mei.
The certificate became central in a separate public procurement dispute involving the N$237 million Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) head office tender.
In that matter, Zong Mei challenged its disqualification after CPBN said Namra had confirmed that a good standing certificate submitted by one of the joint venture partners was issued “unprocedurally” and was subsequently revoked.
The Namibian in 2024 reported that Zong Mei, in a joint venture with Palladium Civil Engineering, had bid N$216 million for the Namfisa project, while CPBN awarded the tender to another joint venture.
The CPBN said the bidder was disqualified after due diligence with Namra regarding the tax certificate.
In the same court challenge, Zong Mei’s representatives argued that Namra did not have the statutory power to revoke a tax good standing certificate once issued, while CPBN maintained the company was “procedurally and fairly disqualified”.
Oaseb has been charged under sections 43(1), 43(2), 43(3) and 46 of the Anti-Corruption Act (Act 8 of 2003), according to the ACC.
He appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on 17 February and was granted bail of N$8 000.
The case was postponed to 10 April for legal representation.
The ACC says another suspect linked to the matter has not yet been arrested.
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