Mbok faces bankruptcy

THE Legal Assistance Centre is in the process of applying to courts to declare the controversial owner of Dignity Housing Initiative, Tony Mbok, bankrupt.

Mbok (34) has been behind bars since October this year after he was arrested on charges of fraud. He and Mateus Niklas Katamba (28) were charged with selling a house without the owner’s consent.Their case was postponed to December 12 with no bail granted.Norman Tjombe, Director of LAC, said they want Mbok’s company liquidated because he cannot pay back the deposits he collected from a group of clients in Katutura.Some Katutura residents claimed Mbok had cheated them by promising them houses worth between N$50 000 and N$65 000 if they paid a deposit of N$5 000 in addition to a refundable administration fee of N$250.The project, launched in March last year, never got off the ground.The houses were supposed to be for people earning between N$800 and N$7 000 a month.Although he paid back some of the deposits, other customers have instructed the Legal Assistance Centre to help them recover their money from Mbok.Mbok claimed that he was in business with a consortium including estate agency Pam Golding, estate agent Helena Mandevhu, Marbex Construction, Stoney Construction, Solbric Namibia and Africon as the engineering firm for the project.These concerns have denied partnership with Mbok, saying he used their names to con people out of thousands.Mandevhu even laid a criminal charge against him.When he appeared before Magistrate Kauna Shilemba in October, Mbok indicated that he would get his own legal representation while Katamba would apply for legal aid.However, Mbok has yet to raise the necessary funds to pay the bail and is still in the Police cells.Earlier, Tjombe said the agreements between Mbok and his clients were invalid, as no prior permission for the construction of the properties had been obtained from the City of Windhoek and from the Townships Board as required by law.The agreement also contravened the Banking Institutions Act of 1998, he said.Mbok said he was not contractually obliged to refund the clients, as they did not pay the deposits directly to his company but to estate agents, but his company used its discretion to pay back in certain cases.He claimed that a large-scale development of affordable houses was seen as killing the mortgage market for the banks and thus they were reluctant to finance his project.He and Mateus Niklas Katamba (28) were charged with selling a house without the owner’s consent.Their case was postponed to December 12 with no bail granted.Norman Tjombe, Director of LAC, said they want Mbok’s company liquidated because he cannot pay back the deposits he collected from a group of clients in Katutura.Some Katutura residents claimed Mbok had cheated them by promising them houses worth between N$50 000 and N$65 000 if they paid a deposit of N$5 000 in addition to a refundable administration fee of N$250.The project, launched in March last year, never got off the ground.The houses were supposed to be for people earning between N$800 and N$7 000 a month.Although he paid back some of the deposits, other customers have instructed the Legal Assistance Centre to help them recover their money from Mbok.Mbok claimed that he was in business with a consortium including estate agency Pam Golding, estate agent Helena Mandevhu, Marbex Construction, Stoney Construction, Solbric Namibia and Africon as the engineering firm for the project.These concerns have denied partnership with Mbok, saying he used their names to con people out of thousands.Mandevhu even laid a criminal charge against him.When he appeared before Magistrate Kauna Shilemba in October, Mbok indicated that he would get his own legal representation while Katamba would apply for legal aid.However, Mbok has yet to raise the necessary funds to pay the bail and is still in the Police cells.Earlier, Tjombe said the agreements between Mbok and his clients were invalid, as no prior permission for the construction of the properties had been obtained from the City of Windhoek and from the Townships Board as required by law.The agreement also contravened the Banking Institutions Act of 1998, he said.Mbok said he was not contractually obliged to refund the clients, as they did not pay the deposits directly to his company but to estate agents, but his company used its discretion to pay back in certain cases.He claimed that a large-scale development of affordable houses was seen as killing the mortgage market for the banks and thus they were reluctant to finance his project.