Teko Trading asks for release of frozen funds

EMBATTLED Public Service Commissioner Teckla Lameck and her business partner, Kongo Mokaxwa, have filed a case in the High Court to ask that N$623 490 be released out of the assets of their close corporation that have been frozen in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act since July.

The interim restraint order over assets connected to Lameck, Mokaxwa, their close corporation, Teko Trading CC, and a Chinese business associate of theirs, Yang Fan, was extended to January 18 on Friday. A ruling on whether the provisional restraint order over their assets should be made a final order or be dismissed has been awaited in the High Court since two days of legal arguments on the issue were concluded on September 15.On Thursday last week, an application in which Teko Trading is asking that a total of N$623 490 be released from a bank account of the close corporation was filed with the High Court.The money is needed to pay legal fees, salaries, municipal rates and taxes, and water and electricity charges on behalf of Teko Trading, Mokaxwa is claiming in an affidavit that forms part of the case that has been filed.The assets were frozen on July 6 on a request from the Prosecutor General.The restraint order given by the High Court resulted from Teko Trading’s involvement in a contract for the provision of scanning equipment between a Chinese manufacturer of this type of equipment, Nuctech Company, and Namibia’s Ministry of Finance.The Finance Ministry agreed in May last year to buy the equipment from the Chinese company at a total cost of US$55,348 million.After the Ministry had made a first payment of US$12,828 million to Nuctech at the end of February this year, the Chinese company paid a ‘commission’ of N$42,06 million to Teko Trading.In terms of agency and consultancy agreements that Teko Trading had signed with Nuc-tech, the close corporation – of which Lameck and Mokaxwa are the only members – stood to earn a total of US$12,828 million from its involvement in the contract between the Ministry and Nuctech.It is being alleged that Teko Trading did very little to justify earning such a large amount of money.According to the agreements between Nuctech, of which Yang is an employee, and Teko Trading, of which Yang also claims to be an employee, the close corporation had to assist in answering frequently asked questions about the equipment supplied by Nuctech, had to ‘facilitate’ the Finance Ministry to make a punctual payment of the first amount of US$12,828 million that the Ministry paid to Nuctech, and had to ‘facilitate’ the Finance Ministry to acquire necessary licences, permits and approvals and to prepare for the delivery of the equipment.In the affidavit filed with the High Court last week, Mokaxwa states that three erven that Teko Trading owned at Walvis Bay were sold just before the assets restraint order was issued in early July. The proceeds of that sale, amounting to more than N$1 million, were later paid into a bank account of Teko Trading. Although this account has not been frozen in terms of the restraint order, access to the account has been blocked and the curator who has been put in charge of the frozen assets has also taken control of this account, Mokaxwa states.According to Mokaxwa, Teko Trading owes its lawyers, Sisa Namandje & Company, an amount of N$690 000. The close corporation is asking that N$600 000 be released from its bank account to pay part of this debt to the law firm.The close corporation also needs N$23 490 to pay the salaries of four employees at a car wash business it has in Windhoek and to pay municipal charges of the car wash, Mokaxwa informed the court.He related that Teko Trading and its two members have been using money borrowed from family members, friends and sympathisers to pay for their legal representation and their living expenses since their assets were frozen.This source of money has however been exhausted, and the people who have been helping them with money have become restless because of the long period of time that has passed without their money being repaid, he states.The case is scheduled to be heard in the High Court on Friday.In the case in which they are facing criminal charges in connection with the scanner contract, Lameck, Mokaxwa and Yang are set to make another appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.