Ex-NBC boss’s fraud trial postponed to July 2010

THE end of the testimony of the first witness in the fraud trial of former Namibian Broadcasting Corporation Director General Gerry Munyama and a co-accused, Engelbrecht Theodor, in the High Court in Windhoek this week also signalled the start of another long postponement of the trial.

A former Internal Audit Manager at the NBC, Jakes Jacobs, completed testifying before Judge Kato van Niekerk on Wednesday. With Munyama’s defence lawyer, Boris Isaacks, also involved in a murder trial that kicked off in the High Court yesterday, and with the prosecution not expecting to wrap up its case in the time allocated for their trial until next Wednesday, the trial was again postponed. The trial had resumed on Monday after being interrupted by a postponement of seven and a half months after Munyama’s former defence counsel withdrew.Munyama (53) and Theodor (43) have to return to the High Court on July 1 next year. Munyama and Theodor pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them when their trial started on February 3. They are jointly charged with a count of fraud, while Munyama is also facing an alternative charge of theft and two additional charges of forgery and uttering. Theodor is also charged with two alternative charges of theft by false pretences and theft.The charges are based on allegations that Munyama used a forged NBC Board resolution to open a bank account in the NBC’s name on May 16 2005. Munyama allegedly had the sole signing powers.After Munyama had opened the ‘NBC Executive Account’ with Standard Bank Namibia, cheques totalling N$345 995,88 that were due to the NBC were paid into the account. These included two cheques with a total value of N$320 995,88 that represented the proceeds of the sale of shares that the NBC owned in insurance company Old Mutual, it is claimed.Between May 17 and November 15 2005 Munyama went on to withdraw money from the account for his personal use, it is alleged.When he opened the account, Munyama gave his home address as the registered address for the account and gave a postal address belonging to his wife and a business partner of hers as the postal address for the account, the prosecution is charging.It is also alleged that two cheques, totalling N$244 750, were drawn on the account. These cheques were then paid to a close corporation in which Theodor had an interest, Khomas Engineering CC, and Theodor then withdrew the money originating from these cheques from Khomas Engineering’s bank account and used this money himself or gave it to Munyama, it is charged.Theodor’s defence counsel, Marlene Tommasi, on Wednesday and on Tuesday cross-examined Jacobs at length on Khomas Engineering’s business relationship with the NBC. She indicated to the court that the NBC’s accounting records on contracts that Khomas Engineering had to install air-conditioning equipment for the public broadcaster were not complete. According to Theodor, the payments made to Khomas Engineering from the bank account allegedly opened by Munyama through a forged NBC Board resolution were payments made on genuine invoices that were issued for work that Khomas Engineering had done for the NBC.