Windhoek woman declared bankrupt over N$41 million theft claims

Fired financial manager declared bankrupt

A Windhoek resident has been declared bankrupt after being accused of stealing more than N$41 million from her employer over a period of about nine years.

The estate of Marlien Conradie (36) was placed under a final order of sequestration last week, after a company alleging that Conradie had stolen more than N$21 million from it applied for her sequestration in the Windhoek High Court.

In a sworn statement filed at the court, the chief financial officer of the company Western Investments Namibia, Abraham Collard, says it was discovered in May this year that Conradie had stolen about N$41.3 million from subsidiaries of the company.

Conradie was employed as group financial manager of Western Investments Namibia, which is a holding company with several subsidiaries, until her employment was terminated on 7 May, Collard says in his statement.

At the end of her employment, Conradie was receiving a money salary of about N$77 000, he noted.

According to figures cited by Collard, it was discovered that Conradie had been stealing money from companies in the Western Investments Namibia group since January 2016.

She is alleged to have stolen about N$21.8 million from the company UWM Mineral Processing, N$10.5 million from the company Onguma Safari Camps, N$7 million from the company Vordu Logistics and Investment Services, and also smaller amounts from other companies in the group.

The alleged theft was discovered at the end of April during an audit of the financial accounts of companies in the group.

During the audit, it was noticed that two payments made by Vordu Logistics and Investment Services in January this year and selected by auditors for spot checks had been paid into a bank account belonging to Conradie, Collard related.

When those payments, which were supposed to have been made to a transport company, were investigated, it was found that the amounts paid to Conradie’s account differed from amounts initially prepared for payment by Vordu, Collard said.

On 2 May, suspicions were further raised when it was discovered that a payment by Onguma Safari Camps that was supposed to be made to a supplier of the company had been made to an account of Conradie, Collard recounted.

After an initial investigation, a meeting with Conradie – who was on maternity leave at that stage – was held on 7 May, Collard said in his affidavit.

During the meeting, Conradie was confronted about her actions, and “admitted to unlawfully and intentionally misappropriating an estimated amount of N$15 million”, Collard recorded.

He also said Conradie admitted that she stole money between 2023 and this year – but further investigations soon showed she had not been entirely honest during the meeting on 7 May.

During those investigations, it was discovered that Conradie had been unlawfully transferring money from the accounts of companies in the Western Investments Namibia group to three bank accounts in her own name since January 2016, and that those payments totalled about N$41.3 million, Collard said.

Payments totalling N$3.1 million that were made to Conradie’s accounts from March 2018 to February 2019 were identified as money stolen from the group of companies.

Collard related that other payments identified as money stolen from the group totalled:

• N$3.6 million from March 2019 to February 2020;
• N$3.9 million from March 2020 to February 2021;
• N$6.2 million from March 2021 to February 2022;
• N$5.1 million from March 2022 to February 2023;
• N$7.5 million from March 2023 to February 2024; and
• N$7.5 million from March 2024 to February 2025.

The method used by Conradie was to substitute bank account details of vendors or suppliers of companies in the Western Investments Namibia group with her own bank account numbers before payments were made, Collard said.

An investigation of Conradie’s bank account records showed she engaged in lavish spending, making numerous payments for what appeared to be luxury goods, the court was informed.

Collard said the investigation of Conradie’s accounts showed the money allegedly stolen by her was simply spent after entering her accounts, and that there are no substantial amounts of money still saved in her accounts.

Conradie appears to have assets valued at about N$4.5 million, but when an outstanding mortgage amount is taken into account, her assets are valued at about N$2.2 million, Collard said as well.

Her account records also show that she spent money on several luxury brands, such as Harrods (about N$373 000), Jimmy Choo (about N$200 800), Louis Vuitton (about N$198 000), Dolce & Gabbana (about N$47 800) and Lacoste (about N$44 800).

Collard added that various amounts of money appear to have been transferred from Conradie’s accounts to the accounts of other persons.

A trustee put in charge of her estate would be in a position to try to trace those payments and their beneficiaries and to resell some of the luxury goods bought by Conradie to raise money for her creditors, Collard said.

Conradie did not oppose the legal action taken to have her estate sequestrated.

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