GIPF audit data stolen

A LAPTOP computer, as well as sensitive documents related to a forensic inspection at the Government Institution Pension Fund, were stolen from Namfisa’s offices in Windhoek on Monday.

The theft occurred during a lunch break while the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) was hosting Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila at a mini-conference on the Namibian financial services industry. Namfisa is located in the Sanlam building.The thief or thieves are reported to have ignored two wallets, containing cash and credit cards, which were lying on the desk with the laptop, Police sources said.Namfisa’s acting CEO Lily Brandt confirmed the theft and said the Police were called in to investigate.She declined to discuss any of the particulars, as she feared it might jeopardise the Police investigation.”Yes, a laptop computer and some documents have been removed illegally, but that is all I can tell you at this stage,” Brandt said.The computer, belonging to the team leader, Johan Strauss of South African BEE auditing outfit Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba, is thought to contain all the work done so far in the three weeks that the forensic investigation has been underway at GIPF.Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba, one of the two biggest BEE auditing firms in South Africa, was brought in by Namibian firm Saunderson Theron and Associates.The inspection is expected to shed light on the status of soft loans totalling several hundreds of millions of dollars given to about a dozen politically well-connected Black Economic Empowerment companies.The theft has left security personnel perplexed: The office from which the laptop and documents were stolen was supposed to be under CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) scrutiny, but the two cameras trained on this specific office and the entrance to Namfisa’s offices were trained in a different direction.The empty carrying bag for the computer was discovered in the stairwell on the seventh floor (Namfisa’s offices are on the eighth floor).The final report on the inspection of the GIPF’s books was to be delivered by the end of this week.It was not immediately clear yesterday how the theft of the laptop would affect the outcome of the report, if at all.* John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587Namfisa is located in the Sanlam building.The thief or thieves are reported to have ignored two wallets, containing cash and credit cards, which were lying on the desk with the laptop, Police sources said.Namfisa’s acting CEO Lily Brandt confirmed the theft and said the Police were called in to investigate.She declined to discuss any of the particulars, as she feared it might jeopardise the Police investigation.”Yes, a laptop computer and some documents have been removed illegally, but that is all I can tell you at this stage,” Brandt said.The computer, belonging to the team leader, Johan Strauss of South African BEE auditing outfit Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba, is thought to contain all the work done so far in the three weeks that the forensic investigation has been underway at GIPF.Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba, one of the two biggest BEE auditing firms in South Africa, was brought in by Namibian firm Saunderson Theron and Associates.The inspection is expected to shed light on the status of soft loans totalling several hundreds of millions of dollars given to about a dozen politically well-connected Black Economic Empowerment companies.The theft has left security personnel perplexed: The office from which the laptop and documents were stolen was supposed to be under CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) scrutiny, but the two cameras trained on this specific office and the entrance to Namfisa’s offices were trained in a different direction.The empty carrying bag for the computer was discovered in the stairwell on the seventh floor (Namfisa’s offices are on the eighth floor).The final report on the inspection of the GIPF’s books was to be delivered by the end of this week.It was not immediately clear yesterday how the theft of the laptop would affect the outcome of the report, if at all. * John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587