ODC says it’s ‘making progress’ on missing millions

THE Offshore Development Company (ODC) says it is making headway in tracking down its botched N$100 million investment, but the details remain sketchy.

According to ODC Board Chairperson Gerdus Burmeister, “serious progress” had been made. But, he told The Namibian on Wednesday, because of past leaks about the investigation, the board was not being kept fully abreast of developments.”I can’t divulge anything.But yes, there have been developments …quite serious developments, and I believe it will all come to a point in the very near future,” he said.It has been months since any feedback has been forthcoming from the ODC on what it has been doing to get its money back.Burmeister said lawyers and the Police were involved in both civil and criminal action against individuals and companies involved in the deal.Since 2003, the deal has resulted in the ODC siphoning off millions to a little-known and dubious investment company, Great Triangle Investments.The sequestration of Great Triangle Investments’ kingpin Philip Fourie is currently underway in South Africa, but the trustee says no assets have been found in Fourie’s estate to date.Fourie’s sequestration comes at the hands of a Windhoek pensioner whom Great Triangle Investments swindled out of N$7 million.His estate was placed under sequestration by the Cape Town High Court in January.Christiaan Bester of Cape Trustees, who has been assigned to wind up Fourie’s estate, told The Namibian on Wednesday that to date no creditor had laid a claim against the estate.A meeting was held between Fourie and the liquidators on April 21, but he claimed to have no assets in his estate.Bester said it could take up to a year for investigations into Fourie’s assets to be concluded and for the estate to be dissolved.Burmeister told The Namibian that the ODC had decided against pursuing Fourie’s personal estate because it could cost the ODC further expense if there were no assets to be found.”We are taking certain actions, but it could be damaging if it comes out,” he said.Burmeister maintained that even the ODC board was being kept in the dark on progress to prevent an information leak.In papers filed during the sequestration process, Fourie acknowledged being the principal shareholder of Great Triangle Investments.He is believed to have transferred several of the ODC’s millions to Comserve Investments, a company owned by a certain Tertius Theart who is also known to have had dealings with the ODC regarding the N$100 million investment.Comserve Investments is in turn a shareholder of La Gratitude Holdings, another of Fourie’s companies in whose name a property in Stellenbosch is registered.Despite the millions of dollars that were transferred to Great Triangle Investments, that account appears to be virtually empty.In an affidavit to the Cape Town High Court, Fourie listed as the company’s only assets N$4,5 million in unknown investments in Europe and the USA.Of the missing N$100 million, at least N$55 million came from ODC sister company the Namibia Development Corporation (NDC).Last month, the NDC board fired its MD Abdool Aboobakar and Finance Manager Addis Faul for their involvement in transferring the funds to the ODC for investment.The two have launched an appeal against their dismissal.They contend that they did not act outside their rights and company policy in transferring the funds for investment.About N$29 million of that amount was the NDC’s own money, while the remainder was money from the Ministry of Trade that the NDC was administering for various projects.Last year, information technology company Silnam won a High Court bid to have the ODC repay it more than N$7 million it had given the ODC to invest with Great Triangle Investments.But, he told The Namibian on Wednesday, because of past leaks about the investigation, the board was not being kept fully abreast of developments.”I can’t divulge anything.But yes, there have been developments …quite serious developments, and I believe it will all come to a point in the very near future,” he said.It has been months since any feedback has been forthcoming from the ODC on what it has been doing to get its money back.Burmeister said lawyers and the Police were involved in both civil and criminal action against individuals and companies involved in the deal.Since 2003, the deal has resulted in the ODC siphoning off millions to a little-known and dubious investment company, Great Triangle Investments.The sequestration of Great Triangle Investments’ kingpin Philip Fourie is currently underway in South Africa, but the trustee says no assets have been found in Fourie’s estate to date.Fourie’s sequestration comes at the hands of a Windhoek pensioner whom Great Triangle Investments swindled out of N$7 million. His estate was placed under sequestration by the Cape Town High Court in January.Christiaan Bester of Cape Trustees, who has been assigned to wind up Fourie’s estate, told The Namibian on Wednesday that to date no creditor had laid a claim against the estate.A meeting was held between Fourie and the liquidators on April 21, but he claimed to have no assets in his estate.Bester said it could take up to a year for investigations into Fourie’s assets to be concluded and for the estate to be dissolved.Burmeister told The Namibian that the ODC had decided against pursuing Fourie’s personal estate because it could cost the ODC further expense if there were no assets to be found.”We are taking certain actions, but it could be damaging if it comes out,” he said.Burmeister maintained that even the ODC board was being kept in the dark on progress to prevent an information leak.In papers filed during the sequestration process, Fourie acknowledged being the principal shareholder of Great Triangle Investments.He is believed to have transferred several of the ODC’s millions to Comserve Investments, a company owned by a certain Tertius Theart who is also known to have had dealings with the ODC regarding the N$100 million investment.Comserve Investments is in turn a shareholder of La Gratitude Holdings, another of Fourie’s companies in whose name a property in Stellenbosch is registered.Despite the millions of dollars that were transferred to Great Triangle Investments, that account appears to be virtually empty.In an affidavit to the Cape Town High Court, Fourie listed as the company’s only assets N$4,5 million in unknown investments in Europe and the USA.Of the missing N$100 million, at least N$55 million came from ODC sister company the Namibia Development Corporation (NDC).Last month, the NDC board fired its MD Abdool Aboobakar and Finance Manager Addis Faul for their involvement in transferring the funds to the ODC for investment.The two have launched an appeal against their dismissal.They contend that they did not act outside their rights and company policy in transferring the funds for investment.About N$29 million of that amount was the NDC’s own money, while the remainder was money from the Ministry of Trade that the NDC was administering for various projects.Last year, information technology company Silnam won a High Court bid to have the ODC repay it more than N$7 million it had given the ODC to invest with Great Triangle Investments.