Plea date set for main figure in SSC fraud case

THE steadily snowballing case of the now more than 60 people accused of having been involved in a fraud scheme that may have cost the Social Security Commission hundreds of thousands of dollars were back in court yesterday to have their case postponed once more.

At their last joint appearance in court on July 13, the number of people to have been charged with counts of fraud and corruption in the case still stood at 59. By yesterday, former SSC staff member Maxwell Spanneberg, who is the first accused in the case, was one of 64 accused persons in the case to crowd into a courtroom in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura to appear before Magistrate Desmond Beukes.A further three accused had been added to the case on July 19, another was added the next day, and the latest accused to be joined to the matter appeared in court for the first time on Monday.The 64 were told yesterday that they have to appear in court again on November 28.The case was postponed to that date for further investigations to be done and for the Prosecutor General to decide what should be done thereafter with the prosecution of the people charged in the case.Spanneberg, though, is set to return to court on Thursday next week, when he will be asked to plead to the charges that he and his 63 co-accused face.Spanneberg is the only one of the accused who will be asked to plead to the charges before the case is referred to the PG for a decision to be taken, Public Prosecutor O.J.Lino told Magistrate Beukes.Spanneberg was arrested shortly after the SSC had announced in early November last year that it had “uncovered fraudulent activities carried out by one of its staff members”.The staff member was identified as Spanneberg.According to the SSC, Spanneberg was employed in the Registry Division at the SSC’s head office in Windhoek.It is suspected that he had used the passwords of other staff members to lodge, process and authorise fraudulent sick leave claims, the SSC claimed.Spanneberg was suspended from his post on August 30 last year, when a full-scale investigation of his alleged activities was ordered.The SSC dismissed him on November 2, after he had been found guilty of misconduct following a disciplinary hearing, the SSC stated.Spanneberg was arrested and charged criminally ten days later.He spent a month in Police custody before he was granted bail of N$15 000.It is suspected that Spanneberg had used his position at the SSC to process false claims amounting to around N$377 800 and that these claims were then paid out in the names of the people who have been charged as his co-accused.The proceeds of this scheme were then allegedly shared by Spanneberg and the other suspects.All the accused remain free on bail until their next scheduled court appearance.By yesterday, former SSC staff member Maxwell Spanneberg, who is the first accused in the case, was one of 64 accused persons in the case to crowd into a courtroom in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura to appear before Magistrate Desmond Beukes.A further three accused had been added to the case on July 19, another was added the next day, and the latest accused to be joined to the matter appeared in court for the first time on Monday.The 64 were told yesterday that they have to appear in court again on November 28.The case was postponed to that date for further investigations to be done and for the Prosecutor General to decide what should be done thereafter with the prosecution of the people charged in the case. Spanneberg, though, is set to return to court on Thursday next week, when he will be asked to plead to the charges that he and his 63 co-accused face.Spanneberg is the only one of the accused who will be asked to plead to the charges before the case is referred to the PG for a decision to be taken, Public Prosecutor O.J.Lino told Magistrate Beukes.Spanneberg was arrested shortly after the SSC had announced in early November last year that it had “uncovered fraudulent activities carried out by one of its staff members”.The staff member was identified as Spanneberg.According to the SSC, Spanneberg was employed in the Registry Division at the SSC’s head office in Windhoek.It is suspected that he had used the passwords of other staff members to lodge, process and authorise fraudulent sick leave claims, the SSC claimed.Spanneberg was suspended from his post on August 30 last year, when a full-scale investigation of his alleged activities was ordered.The SSC dismissed him on November 2, after he had been found guilty of misconduct following a disciplinary hearing, the SSC stated.Spanneberg was arrested and charged criminally ten days later.He spent a month in Police custody before he was granted bail of N$15 000.It is suspected that Spanneberg had used his position at the SSC to process false claims amounting to around N$377 800 and that these claims were then paid out in the names of the people who have been charged as his co-accused.The proceeds of this scheme were then allegedly shared by Spanneberg and the other suspects.All the accused remain free on bail until their next scheduled court appearance.