Charges in the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) fraud and corruption case were instituted by the Namcor board of directors in a bid to get a government bailout for the state-owned company, former Namcor manager Cedric Willemse claimed yesterday.
Willemse, who was testifying during the third day of a bail hearing in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, told magistrate Olga Muharukua that in his view the charges he is facing are “malicious”.
Willemse added: “Due to the fact that the board that has instituted these charges wants to justify a bailout by using these charges.”
He continued that Namcor is refusing to recover outstanding debts of N$400 million, which has been mentioned as the amount Namcor is claimed to have lost due to alleged fraud and corruption blamed on the accused arrested and charged about two months ago, from the fuel firms Enercon Namibia and Erongo Petroleum.
Those outstanding debts had been covered by a previous bailout of N$1.3 billion that Namcor received from the government, Willemse claimed.
He added: “So, the company has managed themselves into another debt, and three, four days before our arrests there was another bailout request in the newspapers, and then suddenly these arrests.”
Noting that the prosecution initially claimed the case involved a figure of N$480 million, Willemse said that was mentioned to create an impression about where money lost by Namcor went to.
“That is ludicrous,” he said.
“I hope there’s people that might see it in this light that I see it and the rest of the accused are seeing this, that legitimate transactions are being criminalised just for a company that messed up, again to get a bailout from government.”
Willemse is facing 10 charges, including two counts of fraud, alternatively theft by false pretences, two charges of corruptly accepting gratification, and counts of corruptly using an office or position for gratification, money laundering and failing to declare an income for the payment of tax.
He yesterday told the magistrate he believed the state does not have a strong case against him and that he will be able to prove his innocence during a trial.
Willemse has testified that he was employed by a Namcor subsidiary, Namcor Petroleum Trading and Distribution, as a logistics and depot manager from 2008 to 2011. In 2018 he became a consultant for the company, and in June 2022 he was appointed as its supply and distribution manager – a post he held until he resigned with effect from November 2023, he said.
As a consultant, he was paid N$115 000 plus expenses monthly, and after his appointment as an employee he was paid an annual salary of N$1.38 million (N$115 000 monthly), Willemse said yesterday.
Willemse told the court he has dual Namibian and South African citizenship, but according to him his roots are in Namibia. After he sold two houses he owned in Cape Town earlier this year, the only property he still owns in South Africa is a week-long time share at the Sun City resort, Willemse said.
He also acknowledged, though, that all three of his cars in Namibia have South African licence plates.
He has no intention to flee from Namibia if he is granted bail, Willemse said.
“I’ve set up my life in Namibia since 2006,” he said.
The bail hearing is continuing.
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