NDF fraudster blew most of stolen N$5,4m

FORMER Defence Ministry official Emmanuel Mununga, who used his position in the Ministry to defraud Sanlam Namibia of N$5,4 million, will only be able to repay N$500 000, the High Court in Windhoek heard yesterday.

Mununga committed fraud on no fewer than 186 occasions between January 23 1996 and November 2000. The money he stole was spent on paying for his children’s education, buying cattle, for personal day-to-day spending, and helping friends and relatives financially, Mununga’s defence counsel, Unanisa Hengari, told Acting Judge Christie Liebenberg as Mununga’s case returned to the High Court for the start of sentencing.The 47-year-old Mununga will be able to repay N$500 000 of the N$5,425 million that he admits he fraudulently received from Sanlam, Hengari told the court.Mununga is offering to pay a first instalment of N$50 000 to Sanlam by January next year, and would also have to sell a property, valued at N$120 000, that he owns at Rundu in order to further compensate the company, the court was told.Mununga would further need to pay the rest of the suggested compensation to Sanlam in instalments of N$1 500 a month, Hengari said.Acting Judge Liebenberg is set to sentence Mununga on Thursday next week.Mununga pleaded guilty to 186 charges of fraud on Wednesday last week.He admitted that while he was employed as a personnel officer in the Ministry of Defence, he submitted false claims for the payment of death benefits that were supposedly due to be paid to relatives of Namibia Defence Force members who had died.The true situation however was that Mununga used the names of NDF members who had either resigned or retired from the defence force, and that he put these names on old death certificates that he retrieved from the Ministry of Defence’s archive.He then submitted the claims for life insurance pay-outs to Sanlam Namibia, State advocate Orben Sibeya reminded the Acting Judge yesterday.While he was doing this, Sanlam Namibia was dutifully paying out the claims for amounts ranging between N$15 000 and N$32 000 per claim.Mununga then channelled these payments through bank accounts belonging to various relatives and acquaintances before the money landed in his own pockets.He admitted that he received a total of N$5,425 million over the four years and almost 10 months that he was operating the fraud scheme before his crimes were detected.Mununga was arrested in mid-December 2000.Hengari told the court yesterday that Mununga was in ill health and that it would only aggravate his medical condition if he was to be imprisoned.Mununga’s family would also disintegrate if he was to be sent to jail, Hengari added.He told Acting Judge Liebenberg that Mununga has four children, aged between 22 and 12, and that they are living with him in Windhoek, while his wife lives at Rundu, where she works as a teacher.Hengari suggested that the court impose a suspended sentence on condition that Mununga paid Sanlam N$500 000 in compensation.Sanlam Namibia wants the entire stolen N$5,425 million back, though, Sibeya told the court.Commenting that the amount involved was “excessive and unprecedented in our country”, he told Acting Judge Liebenberg that the seriousness of the offence and interests of society outweighed Mununga’s personal circumstances.Mununga employed careful planning when he used a position of trust in the Ministry of Defence to commit the fraud over a long period of time, Sibeya remarked.He therefore deserved a “robust sentence”, which should be a lengthy prison term, Sibeya said.He also told the court that Namibia as a nation would be doomed and the country’s struggle to achieve independence would have been in vain if people put in positions of trust ended up abusing that trust.After Hengari had addressed the court, Mununga also asked for an opportunity to make a statement from the dock.He told Acting Judge Liebenberg that he wanted to tender his regret and apologies to Sanlam Namibia for the loss the company suffered as a result of his actions.The past six years that the case has been pending against him have been wasted years for him and a painful time for his family, he added.He asked the court to have mercy on him and treat him with leniency.Mununga remains free on a warning from the court until he is sentenced.The money he stole was spent on paying for his children’s education, buying cattle, for personal day-to-day spending, and helping friends and relatives financially, Mununga’s defence counsel, Unanisa Hengari, told Acting Judge Christie Liebenberg as Mununga’s case returned to the High Court for the start of sentencing.The 47-year-old Mununga will be able to repay N$500 000 of the N$5,425 million that he admits he fraudulently received from Sanlam, Hengari told the court.Mununga is offering to pay a first instalment of N$50 000 to Sanlam by January next year, and would also have to sell a property, valued at N$120 000, that he owns at Rundu in order to further compensate the company, the court was told.Mununga would further need to pay the rest of the suggested compensation to Sanlam in instalments of N$1 500 a month, Hengari said.Acting Judge Liebenberg is set to sentence Mununga on Thursday next week.Mununga pleaded guilty to 186 charges of fraud on Wednesday last week.He admitted that while he was employed as a personnel officer in the Ministry of Defence, he submitted false claims for the payment of death benefits that were supposedly due to be paid to relatives of Namibia Defence Force members who had died.The true situation however was that Mununga used the names of NDF members who had either resigned or retired from the defence force, and that he put these names on old death certificates that he retrieved from the Ministry of Defence’s archive.He then submitted the claims for life insurance pay-outs to Sanlam Namibia, State advocate Orben Sibeya reminded the Acting Judge yesterday.While he was doing this, Sanlam Namibia was dutifully paying out the claims for amounts ranging between N$15 000 and N$32 000 per claim.Mununga then channelled these payments through bank accounts belonging to various relatives and acquaintances before the money landed in his own pockets.He admitted that he received a total of N$5,425 million over the four years and almost 10 months that he was operating the fraud scheme before his crimes were detected.Mununga was arrested in mid-December 2000.Hengari told the court yesterday that Mununga was in ill health and that it would only aggravate his medical condition if he was to be imprisoned.Mununga’s family would also disintegrate if he was to be sent to jail, Hengari added.He told Acting Judge Liebenberg that Mununga has four children, aged between 22 and 12, and that they are living with him in Windhoek, while his wife lives at Rundu, where she works as a teacher.Hengari suggested that the court impose a suspended sentence on condition that Mununga paid Sanlam N$500 000 in compensation.Sanlam Namibia wants the entire stolen N$5,425 million back, though, Sibeya told the court.Commenting that the amount involved was “excessive and unprecedented in our country”, he told Acting Judge Liebenberg that the seriousness of the offence and interests of society outweighed Mununga’s personal circumstances.Mununga employed careful planning when he used a position of trust in the Ministry of Defence to commit the fraud over a long period of time, Sibeya remarked.He therefore deserved a “robust sentence”, which should be a lengthy prison term, Sibeya said.He also told the court that Namibia as a nation would be doomed and the country’s struggle to achieve independence would have been in vain if people put in positions of trust ended up abusing that trust.After Hengari had addressed the court, Mununga also asked for an opportunity to make a statement from the dock.He told Acting Judge Liebenberg that he wanted to tender his regret and apologies to Sanlam Namibia for the loss the company suffered as a result of his actions.The past six years that the case has been pending against him have been wasted years for him and a painful time for his family, he added.He asked th
e court to have mercy on him and treat him with leniency.Mununga remains free on a warning from the court until he is sentenced.