Fritz fights back against fraud, forgery charges

FORMER Namibian Police Deputy Inspector-General Fritz Nghiishililwa says the fraud, forgery and uttering charges on which he made a second court appearance last week are nothing but the result of a personal vendetta against him by the Master of the High Court.

Nghiishililwa, who is now the Deputy Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Namibia, last week made a second appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on the charges that had led to him being arrested on November 21 last year. On Friday, with his daughters Tuliameni and Maria by his side, Nghiishililwa struck back at the allegations against him, claiming that there was no basis for alleging that he had committed or tried to commit fraud, and charging that the charges against him are part of an attempt by the Master of the High Court to take revenge against him because he had previously reported the Master to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice over the way she dealt with the public.”It’s just a vendetta, nothing else.Nothing else,” Nghiishililwa said.”I don’t have time to give attention to vendettas,” was the reaction of the Master of the High Court, Elsie Beukes, later on Friday.She said she had only done her duty – which is to look after the interests of minor children who are the beneficiaries of inherited money that is being kept for them in the Guardian Fund – by making a report to the Police that later led to Nghiishililwa being arrested, charged and prosecuted.She has to report any irregularity that comes to her attention with claims submitted to the Guardian Fund, and that was just what she had done, Beukes said.Nghiishililwa freely acknowledges that he submitted a claim for some N$25 571 to the Guardian Fund.That was for work that an orthodontist performed on the teeth of his daughter Tuli (17).Nghiishililwa also acknowledges that his medical aid fund had actually paid the orthodontist for the services.According to his view of the matter, however, he could see no reason why he could not claim the money back from Tuli’s account with the guardian fund, seeing that his monthly medical aid fund premiums constitute a regular expense that he incurs on his two daughters’ behalf and that he should be able to try and recoup from the Fund, he argues.Any fraud charge is based on a claim that someone made a misrepresentation, law lecturer Nghiishililwa says.In this matter, there was none on his part, he argued on Friday: “I did not misrepresent.I’m the original Fritz!” He added: “How can you charge me with fraud? I’m the original me! I didn’t pretend.”The claim was on the account of his own daughter – not any other children not related to him – and in respect of money that landed in the Guardian Fund after the children’s mother and his wife, Justine David Nghiishililwa, died of cancer in 1998, leaving him as sole guardian of the two girls, Nghiishililwa said.He would have expected the Master to simply turn down his claim and inform him of that if she were to feel that it could not be allowed, instead of laying a complaint with the Police as she did, he said.”This is a set-up case for Miss Beukes to fix me,” he claimed.Beukes took Nghiishililwa’s charges in her stride when she was approached for comment.She said she was not at liberty to discuss the details of the case, but could explain that when there are apparent irregularities with a claim to the Guardian Fund, her office normally hands over the matter to the Namibian Police for investigation, since the Master’s Office does not have the necessary resources and staff to carry out an investigation itself.If the Police then find that there had indeed been irregularities, the matter can lead to a prosecution of the guardian responsible for the irregularity, she added.In the end, though, the decision whether to prosecute a matter or not lies only with the Prosecutor-General, she said.On Friday, with his daughters Tuliameni and Maria by his side, Nghiishililwa struck back at the allegations against him, claiming that there was no basis for alleging that he had committed or tried to commit fraud, and charging that the charges against him are part of an attempt by the Master of the High Court to take revenge against him because he had previously reported the Master to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice over the way she dealt with the public.”It’s just a vendetta, nothing else.Nothing else,” Nghiishililwa said.”I don’t have time to give attention to vendettas,” was the reaction of the Master of the High Court, Elsie Beukes, later on Friday.She said she had only done her duty – which is to look after the interests of minor children who are the beneficiaries of inherited money that is being kept for them in the Guardian Fund – by making a report to the Police that later led to Nghiishililwa being arrested, charged and prosecuted.She has to report any irregularity that comes to her attention with claims submitted to the Guardian Fund, and that was just what she had done, Beukes said.Nghiishililwa freely acknowledges that he submitted a claim for some N$25 571 to the Guardian Fund.That was for work that an orthodontist performed on the teeth of his daughter Tuli (17).Nghiishililwa also acknowledges that his medical aid fund had actually paid the orthodontist for the services.According to his view of the matter, however, he could see no reason why he could not claim the money back from Tuli’s account with the guardian fund, seeing that his monthly medical aid fund premiums constitute a regular expense that he incurs on his two daughters’ behalf and that he should be able to try and recoup from the Fund, he argues.Any fraud charge is based on a claim that someone made a misrepresentation, law lecturer Nghiishililwa says.In this matter, there was none on his part, he argued on Friday: “I did not misrepresent.I’m the original Fritz!” He added: “How can you charge me with fraud? I’m the original me! I didn’t pretend.”The claim was on the account of his own daughter – not any other children not related to him – and in respect of money that landed in the Guardian Fund after the children’s mother and his wife, Justine David Nghiishililwa, died of cancer in 1998, leaving him as sole guardian of the two girls, Nghiishililwa said.He would have expected the Master to simply turn down his claim and inform him of that if she were to feel that it could not be allowed, instead of laying a complaint with the Police as she did, he said.”This is a set-up case for Miss Beukes to fix me,” he claimed.Beukes took Nghiishililwa’s charges in her stride when she was approached for comment.She said she was not at liberty to discuss the details of the case, but could explain that when there are apparent irregularities with a claim to the Guardian Fund, her office normally hands over the matter to the Namibian Police for investigation, since the Master’s Office does not have the necessary resources and staff to carry out an investigation itself.If the Police then find that there had indeed been irregularities, the matter can lead to a prosecution of the guardian responsible for the irregularity, she added.In the end, though, the decision whether to prosecute a matter or not lies only with the Prosecutor-General, she said.