Forex foul-up costs four Angolans N$1,3m

A FAILURE to declare foreign currency in their possession at Hosea Kutako International Airport a month ago turned into a hugely expensive mistake for four Angolan nationals yesterday.

Not only do the four Angolans have to pay fines totalling N$90 000 if they want to be released from prison after a month in custody, but the US$163 064 (about N$1,26 million) that they had in their possession at the airport on June 11 also was declared forfeited to the State at the end of their trial in the Windhoek Regional Court. The trial of Cachuco Raimundo Candimba (24), Joaquim Bonito (36), Vicango Ramil Samuel (33) and Filipe Januario Chitumba started before Magistrate Dinnah Usiku on Thursday last week with all four charged men pleading guilty to a charge of having contravened Namibia’s Exchange Control Regulations at the airport on June 11 by exporting US$163 064 from the country without declaring the foreign currency as required under the regulations.Candimba also pleaded guilty to a charge that he had offered a corrupt payment to a Police officer at the airport by offering to pay the officer US$100 to let him and his compatriots continue unhindered on their way out of Namibia.During their trial, the four men told Magistrate Usiku that they are businessmen in Angola and that they were on their way to Dubai on a business trip.They told the court that they had brought the US currency with them from Angola, and that they planned to use this money to buy vehicles in Dubai as part of their business activities.The four were not using the route from Angola to Dubai through Namibia for the first time, and they knew that they should have declared the foreign currency in their possession, Magistrate Usiku noted during the sentencing.She remarked that it appeared to her that the four simply wanted to take a chance by taking the money through Namibia without declaring it.Had it not been for the diligence of members of the Namibian Police the offence would not have been detected, she said.The Police should be commended for a job well done, the Magistrate commented.She sentenced each of the four charged men to pay a fine of N$20 000 or serve a two-year prison sentence for contravening the currency control regulations.In addition, Candimba was sentenced to pay a fine of N$10 000 or serve a one-year jail term for contravening the Anti-Corruption Act by offering the US$100 payment to a Police officer at the airport.In terms of a provision of the Criminal Procedure Act which allows a court to declare an item used in the commission of an offence as forfeited to the State, Magistrate Usiku further ordered that the US$163 064 seized from the four would be forfeited to the State.If the four men are dissatisfied with the forfeiture order, the law allows them to appeal against it, she said.Defence lawyer André Louw represented the four accused men during the trial.Karin Esterhuizen conducted the prosecution.The trial of Cachuco Raimundo Candimba (24), Joaquim Bonito (36), Vicango Ramil Samuel (33) and Filipe Januario Chitumba started before Magistrate Dinnah Usiku on Thursday last week with all four charged men pleading guilty to a charge of having contravened Namibia’s Exchange Control Regulations at the airport on June 11 by exporting US$163 064 from the country without declaring the foreign currency as required under the regulations.Candimba also pleaded guilty to a charge that he had offered a corrupt payment to a Police officer at the airport by offering to pay the officer US$100 to let him and his compatriots continue unhindered on their way out of Namibia. During their trial, the four men told Magistrate Usiku that they are businessmen in Angola and that they were on their way to Dubai on a business trip.They told the court that they had brought the US currency with them from Angola, and that they planned to use this money to buy vehicles in Dubai as part of their business activities.The four were not using the route from Angola to Dubai through Namibia for the first time, and they knew that they should have declared the foreign currency in their possession, Magistrate Usiku noted during the sentencing.She remarked that it appeared to her that the four simply wanted to take a chance by taking the money through Namibia without declaring it.Had it not been for the diligence of members of the Namibian Police the offence would not have been detected, she said.The Police should be commended for a job well done, the Magistrate commented.She sentenced each of the four charged men to pay a fine of N$20 000 or serve a two-year prison sentence for contravening the currency control regulations.In addition, Candimba was sentenced to pay a fine of N$10 000 or serve a one-year jail term for contravening the Anti-Corruption Act by offering the US$100 payment to a Police officer at the airport.In terms of a provision of the Criminal Procedure Act which allows a court to declare an item used in the commission of an offence as forfeited to the State, Magistrate Usiku further ordered that the US$163 064 seized from the four would be forfeited to the State.If the four men are dissatisfied with the forfeiture order, the law allows them to appeal against it, she said.Defence lawyer André Louw represented the four accused men during the trial.Karin Esterhuizen conducted the prosecution.