Fugitive Malima’s mother charged over N$1.5m payment

A payment of N$1.5 million from a fuel company at the centre of allegations of fraud and corruption at the state-owned National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) is the basis of four of the charges on which two women made a first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Martha Antiindi (56), the mother of Victor Malima, who is wanted in connection with the Namcor fraud and corruption case, and Johanna Mundjego (33) appeared before magistrate Olga Muharukua in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on three charges each.

The charges are counts of dealing with, using, holding, receiving or concealing gratification in relation to an offence, money laundering and theft.

The charges against Antiindi involve amounts of N$1.5 million and N$172 000, while amounts of N$1.5 million and N$227 000 are mentioned in the charges against Mundjego.

Antiindi and Mundjego are being held in custody after public prosecutor Menencia Hinda informed the magistrate that the state is opposed to bail being granted to them, due to the seriousness of the charges and an alleged risk that they would flee if released on bail.

They are due to appear in court again on 20 February, when a date for the hearing of a bail application will be decided.

In the charges against Antiindi and Mundjego, the state is alleging that they each held a 50% interest in the close corporation Eco Fuel Investment when it received a payment of N$1.5 million from the close corporation Eco Trading between July 2022 and November 2023.

The state is also alleging that the fuel company Enercon Namibia had paid the N$1.5 million into the account of Eco Trading, and that the money was proceeds of unlawful activities, having been fraudulently paid by the Namcor subsidiary Namcor Petroleum Trading and Distribution to Enercon Namibia.

The state is claiming that the accused in the Namcor fraud and corruption case were involved in fraud, corruption and other offences allegedly committed when Enercon Namibia sold filling station assets at Namibian Defence Force bases to Namcor Petroleum Trading and Distribution for N$53.2 million in July 2022.

The state is also alleging that Namcor was defrauded when Enercon and another fuel firm, the close corporation Erongo Petroleum, bought fuel products from Namcor, exceeded their credit limits with the company and failed to pay for the products they had bought.

An Anti-Corruption Commission investigator testified during the hearing of bail applications by six of the accused in the case in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in August last year that after Enercon received payments totalling N$53.2 million from Namcor Petroleum Trading and Distribution in July 2022, Enercon paid N$9.5 million to Eco Trading, of which Malima was the sole member.

Eco Trading then paid N$1.5 million to Eco Fuel, before one of the accused in the matter, Connie van Wyk, withdrew amounts of N$700 000 and N$800 000 from the close corporation’s account, the investigator testified.

Van Wyk was the chief executive of Enercon at the time.

In the theft charges against Antiindi and Mundjego, it is alleged that Antiindi stole N$172 000 from Namcor Petroleum Trading and Distribution between January 2022 and the end of October 2023, while it is alleged that Mundjego stole N$227 000 from the Namcor subsidiary between December 2022 and May 2023.

With the arrest and court appearance of Antiindi and Mundjego, the number of people facing criminal charges in connection with alleged corruption and fraud at Namcor has risen to 14.

Defence lawyer Silas-Kishi Shakumu represented Antiindi and Mundjego during their court appearance.

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