THE authorities have frozen access to bank accounts linked to suspected fraud and money laundering involving an estimated N$61 million.
According to the latest report from the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the institution issued 20 account restriction orders between 1 April 2025 and 31 March this year.
The FIC says the account restrictions allow it to investigate suspicious transactions and work with law-enforcement agencies to prevent suspected criminals from accessing or transferring funds.
“By enabling the temporary restriction of accounts linked to the suspected proceeds of crime, these interventions demonstrate the practical value of collaboration between the FIC, the private sector and law-enforcement agencies,” the report reads.
The latest figures show a decline in the number of restrictions compared to the previous year, when 15 account restrictions worth N$155 million were issued.
However, the current period saw more individual account interventions.
Beyond freezing accounts, the FIC has recovered millions linked to suspected criminal activity.
The centre has supported 10 preservation orders valued at N$9 million and 12 forfeiture orders worth N$26 million.
A preservation order prevents assets from being sold or moved while investigations continue, while a forfeiture order allows authorities to take ownership of assets after a legal process.
The FIC’s investigations also uncovered tax-related offences. Its intelligence supported tax assessments worth N$11 million, while a further N$29 million was collected from assessments conducted in previous years.
Meanwhile, 19 criminal cases were opened involving suspected tax offences linked to money laundering.
Fraud and Ponzi schemes continue to dominate financial crime cases in Namibia, accounting for 30% of all identified predicate offences.
Predicate offences are crimes that generate illegal income, which criminals may later attempt to disguise through money laundering.
After fraud and Ponzi schemes, the most common offences identified were tax crimes (13%), theft (10%), drug-related offences (9%), and corruption (6%).
Intelligence shared by the FIC supported 87 police investigations, leading to the identification of 55 victims and 58 suspects.
The FIC also shared eight intelligence reports with the Anti-Corruption Commission, with the matters mainly involving allegations of abuse of office for personal benefit.
FIC director Bryan Eiseb says the centre’s work remains aligned with Namibia’s broader national development agenda under the sixth National Development Plan.
“Our government has prioritised the reduction of illicit financial flows from approximately 9% to 5% of gross domestic product by 2030,” he says.
Eiseb says the focus will be on sustaining the upward trajectory in money laundering investigations and prosecutions and improving the identification and disruption of terrorist financing activities.
