Manager accused of treating PCC as personal ‘lucky dip’

GROCERIES, curtains, linen and satellite television systems were all a mere footnote to the apparent large-scale raiding of the Patriotic Construction Company (PCC), a DBC subsidiary, by its top manager Eddie Champion, the General Manager of PCC from 1998 to 2002, fraudulently paid himself a bonus of nearly N$200 000, took company property, negotiated himself discounts at PCC expense, used the parastatal and its workers to work on his farm for free, failed to pay tax and even used the visit of President Sam Nujoma to buy goods meant for the firm, but which he kept for himself.

The allegations against Champion were made at the public hearings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the defunct parastatals Amcom and DBC. Theo Saunderson, of Saunderson, Theron and Partners, listed the alleged transgressions after his auditing firm was hired in 2002 to investigate suspect payments amounting to N$384 000.The auditors discovered a maze of what appeared to be corrupt deals.In some cases Champion allegedly wrote cheques to himself without supporting the payments.Whenever Champion claimed reimbursements from the company, his documents rarely indicated the date, purpose and occasion of the travel.”Cheques were issued in his name but we could find no supporting documents to support the expenses,” said Saunderson at one point.In one instance, Champion received a pay package of N$40 000, with a tax deduction of nearly N$6 000, but no other deductions.Cash cheques belonging to the company would disappear between auctions, N$20 000 was used to pay the license of a truck, but no invoices could be found.Saunderson’s firm was hired to investigate a range of accusations, including that Champion paid full bonuses to whites only, while the blacks were paid only a quarter.The auditors, to begin with, found that no policy existed for the payment of bonuses or housing allowances.But among the major queries that Champion is expected to explain is the payment of a N$182 000 bonus to himself in 2001.Champion ostensibly received the bonus because the company had exceeded the minimum N$1 million profit for him to qualify.PCC books recorded just over N$3 million profit that year.However, Saunderson said nearly N$3 million of that came from an insurance pay-out for flood damage to construction that the company had undertaken and should have been accounted for in the following year.”Yes, I would certainly regard it as fraudulent accounting,” said Saunderson in response to a question by one of the commissioners.”In my opinion, he was not entitled to the bonus.”When he later disclosed that Champion received N$30 000 payment without any tax deductions, Saunderson was even more damning: “In my opinion, this is basically fraud.All of us know that tax is to be paid [on income].”Theo Saunderson, of Saunderson, Theron and Partners, listed the alleged transgressions after his auditing firm was hired in 2002 to investigate suspect payments amounting to N$384 000.The auditors discovered a maze of what appeared to be corrupt deals.In some cases Champion allegedly wrote cheques to himself without supporting the payments.Whenever Champion claimed reimbursements from the company, his documents rarely indicated the date, purpose and occasion of the travel.”Cheques were issued in his name but we could find no supporting documents to support the expenses,” said Saunderson at one point.In one instance, Champion received a pay package of N$40 000, with a tax deduction of nearly N$6 000, but no other deductions.Cash cheques belonging to the company would disappear between auctions, N$20 000 was used to pay the license of a truck, but no invoices could be found.Saunderson’s firm was hired to investigate a range of accusations, including that Champion paid full bonuses to whites only, while the blacks were paid only a quarter.The auditors, to begin with, found that no policy existed for the payment of bonuses or housing allowances.But among the major queries that Champion is expected to explain is the payment of a N$182 000 bonus to himself in 2001.Champion ostensibly received the bonus because the company had exceeded the minimum N$1 million profit for him to qualify.PCC books recorded just over N$3 million profit that year.However, Saunderson said nearly N$3 million of that came from an insurance pay-out for flood damage to construction that the company had undertaken and should have been accounted for in the following year.”Yes, I would certainly regard it as fraudulent accounting,” said Saunderson in response to a question by one of the commissioners.”In my opinion, he was not entitled to the bonus.”When he later disclosed that Champion received N$30 000 payment without any tax deductions, Saunderson was even more damning: “In my opinion, this is basically fraud.All of us know that tax is to be paid [on income].”