Court liquidates investor company

THE High Court has placed West Coast Financial Aid, an Oranjemund investment company, under provisional liquidation following claims that up to N$15 million invested with them went missing.

The Namibian reported in October that the commercial crime unit of the Police had arrested the three owners of the two companies. Jeremia ‘Jerry’ van Niekerk and his wife, Melanie, were running West Coast Financial Aid and co-owned Mia Micro-lending with Charles van Rensburg.Jerry van Niekerk and Van Rensburg are Namdeb employees while Melanie van Niekerk was involved with the business fulltime.They appeared in the Oranjemund Magistrate’s Court, charged with contravening the Banking Institutions Act, and were released on bail of N$50 000 each.The case was postponed to January 25 for further investigation.The Bank of Namibia and the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) subsequently suspended the operations of West Coast Financial Aid.They issued a public notice towards the end of October to inform clients that they had frozen the accounts of both West Coast Financial Aid and Mia Micro-lending following investigations into their operations.Last week, the company was placed under an order of provisional winding up in the hands of the Master of the High Court.The owners were also called upon to, by January 19, indicate why the company cannot be liquidated.The companies had contravened the Banking Institutions Act.It is alleged that clients invested up to N$15 million with West Coast Financial Aid with the promise that they would earn a handsome 10 per cent a month in interest.In the beginning the clients, some of whom had invested up to N$500 000 each, received their returns, but in January last year the payments suddenly dried up, sources said.Money was allegedly diverted from West Coast Financial Aid to the micro-lender, which was charging 30 per cent interest but started running into trouble.When the three allegedly told their clients that there was no money, the investors laid a complaint with Namfisa and the Police.They were arrested shortly after the investigation.Jeremia ‘Jerry’ van Niekerk and his wife, Melanie, were running West Coast Financial Aid and co-owned Mia Micro-lending with Charles van Rensburg.Jerry van Niekerk and Van Rensburg are Namdeb employees while Melanie van Niekerk was involved with the business fulltime.They appeared in the Oranjemund Magistrate’s Court, charged with contravening the Banking Institutions Act, and were released on bail of N$50 000 each.The case was postponed to January 25 for further investigation.The Bank of Namibia and the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) subsequently suspended the operations of West Coast Financial Aid.They issued a public notice towards the end of October to inform clients that they had frozen the accounts of both West Coast Financial Aid and Mia Micro-lending following investigations into their operations.Last week, the company was placed under an order of provisional winding up in the hands of the Master of the High Court.The owners were also called upon to, by January 19, indicate why the company cannot be liquidated.The companies had contravened the Banking Institutions Act.It is alleged that clients invested up to N$15 million with West Coast Financial Aid with the promise that they would earn a handsome 10 per cent a month in interest.In the beginning the clients, some of whom had invested up to N$500 000 each, received their returns, but in January last year the payments suddenly dried up, sources said.Money was allegedly diverted from West Coast Financial Aid to the micro-lender, which was charging 30 per cent interest but started running into trouble.When the three allegedly told their clients that there was no money, the investors laid a complaint with Namfisa and the Police.They were arrested shortly after the investigation.