The roller-coaster ride of a million dollar account

FROM a paltry balance of N$0,80 up to one of over N$42 million, and then back down to a depleted N$7,39 – all in the space of twelve weeks.

That is the story of the bank account of Teko Trading CC, the close corporation at the centre of the corruption, fraud and bribery case that landed three suspects behind bars in Windhoek Central Prison last week.A flurry of transactions out of the bank account of Teko Trading CC is depicted in an affidavit by the Anti-Corruption Commission’s Chief of Investigations, Nelius Becker, which was used last week to freeze a wide range of assets allegedly tainted by corruption around a contract for the provision of security X-ray scanners to the Ministry of Finance.According to Becker’s affidavit, the main recipients of large payments out of the account of Teko Trading was Public Service Commissioner Teckla Lameck, her business partner, Kongo Mokaxwa, and Chinese national Yang Fan. All three of them were arrested by the Anti-Corruption commission. They are now being detained in Windhoek Central Prison on charges of fraud, bribery and corruption.While Lameck and Mokaxwa are equal members in Teko Trading CC, Yang is also linked to the close corporation; he is claimed to have referred to himself as ‘Senior Marketing Manager for Teko Trading’ when he stated his occupation to Standard Bank Namibia, and gave Lameck’s home address in Suiderhof in Windhoek as his own address when he opened an account with the bank.Yang has also applied for a Namibian work permit, with this application sponsored by Teko Trading on a document, under a Teko Trading letterhead, signed by Lameck. Yang was previously employed by the Swapo-owned transport company Namib Contract Haulage – of which Lameck is a director and where Mokaxwa was employed until he resigned in about March this year, according to Becker.Becker’s affidavit formed one of the pillars of evidence which was used in an application by the Prosecutor General for a court order for the restraint of assets in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act in the High Court on Monday last week.DEAL SET UPIn the affidavit, Becker set out the evidence he claims to have gathered to support allegations that fraud to the tune of US$12,828 million was committed after a Chinese manufacturer of security scanning equipment, Nuctech Company, and the Ministry of Finance signed a contract for the supply of X-ray equipment designed to scan the contents of cargo containers and airline baggage to the Ministry. The contract was signed on May 14 last year.Nuctech and the Finance Ministry agreed that Namibia’s Government would be buying X-ray equipment to the value of US$55,348 million, with US$12,828 to be paid by Government and the balance of US$42,52 million to be advanced by the Chinese government under a concessional loan facility, Becker informed the court.The agreement stated that the Namibian Government’s funding for the transaction ‘is to be used solely for the advance payment for the Seller (Nuctech) to start the production of the whole contract goods’.The Finance Ministry transferred the US$12,828 million to an account of Nuctech Company in Beijing on February 27. Four days later, on March 3, Teko Trading sent a letter, signed by Lameck, to Nuctech to state that it had completed work on consultancy services for the Chinese company.According to Becker, Teko Trading and Nuctech had signed two agreements on February 9: one an ‘Agency Agreement’ and the other a ‘Contract for Consultancy Services.’In terms of these agreements, Teko Trading CC was going to act as Nuctech’s project agent for a fee of US$1,6 million, while it was also going to provide project services for a fee of US$2,629 million, Becker stated.He related that Finance Permanent Secretary Calle Schlettwein however informed him that he was in charge of the negotiations between the Finance Ministry and Nuctech, and that Teko Trading, Lameck and Mokaxwa were never involved in these negotiations or in the development and implementation of the contract after it had been signed. Yang is known to Schlettwein as Nuctech’s African representative, Becker added.He also stated that the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Albert Kawana, informed him that Lameck has not received permission from the President to do other paid work in relation to Teko Trading while serving as a Public Service Commissioner.Becker claimed that Nuctech and Teko Trading also signed further agreements on April 10.In terms of these contracts, Nuctech was set to pay Teko an additional US$8,599 million for its services, which brought the amount to be paid to Teko Trading to US$12,828 million – exactly the same amount as the advance payment that the Ministry of Finance had made to Nuctech solely to start the production of the scanners, Becker pointed out.MONEY MERRY-GO-ROUNDAfter Lameck had sent the March 3 letter and three invoices, totalling US$4,229 million, to Nuctech, the company transferred this amount to a Bank Windhoek account of Teko Trading between March 11 and 12, Becker stated. In Namibian currency, the amount transferred was N$42 061 859,47.Before the transfer was made, the balance on Teko Trading’s account was N$0,80. By June 2, twelve weeks after more than N$42 million had been transferred into the account, its balance had plummeted back to a level of N$7,39.Becker alleged that the way the money paid by Nuctech to Teko Trading was used ‘is not consistent with the way in which a legitimate consulting company would operate’.He stated: ‘All funds paid to (Teko Trading CC) were stripped out of the company within two months of payment and applied to the personal benefit of (Lameck, Mokaxwa and Yang) in what can properly be described as an enormous ‘spending spree”.On March 12, transfers of N$4 million each were made to the accounts of Lameck and Mokaxwa, while on March 17, N$3,08 million was transferred to Lameck’s account, N$4 million to Mokaxwa’s account, and N$16,824 million to Yang’s account, Becker stated.In total, N$9,39 million was transferred to Lameck’s account, N$8 million to Mokaxwa’s account, and N$16,824 million to Yang.With the money she received, Lameck paid off a bond of some N$1,339 million over her house in Suiderhof. Becker claimed that Teko Trading also bought two new Toyota Landcruisers at a cost of N$727 467, of which one was registered in the name of Lameck’s husband, TransNamib Board Chairman Festus Lameck, while the other was registered in Mokaxwa’s name.On March 17, Mrs Lameck, using money from an account of Teko Trading, also bought a Lexus LS 460 for N$916 732, Becker added. This vehicle was also registered in the name of Festus Lameck.Mrs Lameck further bought a tractor and agricultural equipment for N$515 000, while she and her husband also bought a farm, Kainami, in the Otjozondjupa Region for N$3 million on March 20, Becker stated.Mokaxwa bought a house, registered in the name of a close corporation, in one of Windhoek’s most up-market residential areas, Ludwigsdorf, for N$3,4 million on March 13, Becker stated. He and his wife also agreed on April 3 to buy a farm, Voorbegin, in the Otjozondjupa Region for N$4,15 million.Mokaxwa further bought a Mercedes-Benz station wagon for N$666 133 on March 27, two second-hand bakkies for N$415 000 on March 16, and paid off a Mercedes-Benz C200 Kompressor that he had bought in November 2007, Becker related.Yang’s proceeds from the deal were paid into a unit trust account with Standard Bank Namibia. By the start of last week, there was N$10,059 million left on that account.Yang had in the meantime, on April 15 and 16, withdrawn N$750 000 in cash from another account with Standard Bank Namibia, paid N$1,498 million into a credit card account, and also transferred N$3,6 million out of the account, Becker informed the court.All of these accounts have in effect been frozen under the restraint order given by Judge President Petrus Damaseb on Monday last week. The order also extends over the assets allegedly bought with the money claimed to have been fraudulently obtained from the Finance Ministry via Nuctech.