Telecom, scrap firm settle N$5,9 million case

THE scrap dealership facing accusations of fraud and corruption over a string of transactions in which it bought scrap metal from Telecom Namibia between late 2000 and mid-2001 yesterday settled a civil case in which the telecommunications parastatal had sued it for more than N$5,9 million.

Scrap dealership Dresselhaus Scrap CC and Telecom Namibia were set to square off in the High Court this week in a case in which the parastatal was demanding N$5,915 million from the firm in connection with the allegedly crooked deals. With Telecom also demanding annual interest of 20 per cent, calculated over the past four years, to be paid on that amount, Dresselhaus was facing a claim in the region of N$10 million from Telecom.At the root of the case are allegations that Dresselhaus Scrap knowingly went along with, and benefited from, alleged corruption and fraud that are claimed to have marked the sale of scrap copper by Telecom from March 2000 to about July 2001.It is alleged that Dresselhaus Scrap participated in a corrupt scheme in which two former Telecom managers, Ivan Ganes and James Camm, are claimed to have manipulated the sale of scrap copper to the firm so that Dresselhaus Scrap would pay less than it was obliged to do in terms of an agreement with Telecom.It was further claimed that in some instances Ganes failed to invoice Dresselhaus Scrap at all for copper that it had received from Telecom, while in some instances the firm was also allowed to charge Telecom with the labour costs that the firm incurred in the collection of the scrap metal.The hearing of the civil claim this week will not be taking place, though, after Acting Judge Raymond Heathcote ordered that the matter be removed from the court roll yesterday.He made the order after he had been informed that the matter had been settled.The settlement has not been made an order of court.It is understood from informed sources, though, that the case was settled after Dresselhaus Scrap agreed to pay N$2,4 million to Telecom.Telecom had claimed that Ganes had failed to invoice Dresselhaus Scrap for transactions in which the firm had been supposed to pay the parastatal N$3,78 million for scrap copper.In addition, Dresselhaus Scrap acknowledged that it owed Telecom some N$661 000 for transactions on which it had been invoiced.Added to those amounts was an additional claim of N$1,46 million, in respect of transactions where Telecom claimed Dresselhaus Scrap had been deliberately under-invoiced.Dresselhaus Scrap has denied any wrongdoing or involvement in fraud on its side throughout the documentary pleadings in the civil claim, which has been pending in the High Court since August 2001.It has also offered to pay Telecom any outstanding balance due to it in terms of the copper sales agreement concluded in October 1997, as soon as it received an invoice that correctly reflected the amounts due.The obvious implication of this offer was that Telecom had failed, in Dresselhaus Scrap’s view, to provide the firm with correct invoices reflecting what the scrap firm actually owed Telecom.Only last week, Dresselhaus Scrap launched a counter-claim against Telecom to demand N$1,6 million from the company.The scrap dealership claimed that in terms of an oral agreement which was later put on paper, it was agreed that Telecom would pay Dresselhaus Scrap N$2 200 per ton of steel telephone lines that Dresselhaus Scrap was contracted to dismantle from Telecom’s phone line network.The counter-claim forms part of the case that was settled yesterday.With the settlement, the only cases over the alleged scrap sales corruption that remain unresolved are two criminal cases in which one of the partners in Dresselhaus Scrap, Etienne Weakley, is facing fraud charges in the High Court while another partner, Heinz Dresselhaus, and former Telecom manager James Camm are at this stage facing charges in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court.Ganes pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud in the high court about two months ago.He has been sentenced to an effective two years’ imprisonment, as well as a fine of N$100 000.With Telecom also demanding annual interest of 20 per cent, calculated over the past four years, to be paid on that amount, Dresselhaus was facing a claim in the region of N$10 million from Telecom.At the root of the case are allegations that Dresselhaus Scrap knowingly went along with, and benefited from, alleged corruption and fraud that are claimed to have marked the sale of scrap copper by Telecom from March 2000 to about July 2001. It is alleged that Dresselhaus Scrap participated in a corrupt scheme in which two former Telecom managers, Ivan Ganes and James Camm, are claimed to have manipulated the sale of scrap copper to the firm so that Dresselhaus Scrap would pay less than it was obliged to do in terms of an agreement with Telecom.It was further claimed that in some instances Ganes failed to invoice Dresselhaus Scrap at all for copper that it had received from Telecom, while in some instances the firm was also allowed to charge Telecom with the labour costs that the firm incurred in the collection of the scrap metal.The hearing of the civil claim this week will not be taking place, though, after Acting Judge Raymond Heathcote ordered that the matter be removed from the court roll yesterday.He made the order after he had been informed that the matter had been settled.The settlement has not been made an order of court.It is understood from informed sources, though, that the case was settled after Dresselhaus Scrap agreed to pay N$2,4 million to Telecom.Telecom had claimed that Ganes had failed to invoice Dresselhaus Scrap for transactions in which the firm had been supposed to pay the parastatal N$3,78 million for scrap copper.In addition, Dresselhaus Scrap acknowledged that it owed Telecom some N$661 000 for transactions on which it had been invoiced.Added to those amounts was an additional claim of N$1,46 million, in respect of transactions where Telecom claimed Dresselhaus Scrap had been deliberately under-invoiced.Dresselhaus Scrap has denied any wrongdoing or involvement in fraud on its side throughout the documentary pleadings in the civil claim, which has been pending in the High Court since August 2001.It has also offered to pay Telecom any outstanding balance due to it in terms of the copper sales agreement concluded in October 1997, as soon as it received an invoice that correctly reflected the amounts due.The obvious implication of this offer was that Telecom had failed, in Dresselhaus Scrap’s view, to provide the firm with correct invoices reflecting what the scrap firm actually owed Telecom.Only last week, Dresselhaus Scrap launched a counter-claim against Telecom to demand N$1,6 million from the company.The scrap dealership claimed that in terms of an oral agreement which was later put on paper, it was agreed that Telecom would pay Dresselhaus Scrap N$2 200 per ton of steel telephone lines that Dresselhaus Scrap was contracted to dismantle from Telecom’s phone line network.The counter-claim forms part of the case that was settled yesterday.With the settlement, the only cases over the alleged scrap sales corruption that remain unresolved are two criminal cases in which one of the partners in Dresselhaus Scrap, Etienne Weakley, is facing fraud charges in the High Court while another partner, Heinz Dresselhaus, and former Telecom manager James Camm are at this stage facing charges in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court.Ganes pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud in the high court about two months ago.He has been sentenced to an effective two years’ imprisonment, as well as a fine of N$100 000.