WINDHOEK – The Bank of Namibia (BoN) has announced that the business activities of Penta Stream and Gold Prime Time, under their respective referral marketing plans, constituted illegal activities and these accordingly are prohibited in terms of the Banking Institutions Act, 1998 as amended.
During November 2013 an order for the provisional liquidation of Penta Stream Investments CC was granted, while the orders against Gold Prime Time Investments Namibia CC and U-Care Marketing Namibia CC were granted on November 29, 2013.
The Bank has urged participants in the above-mentioned schemes and all members of the public to remain patient as the court processes continue. Moreover, the bank will continue to inform members of the public once there are any further developments on these matters, which will assist them in assessing the status and progress made. Furthermore, on September 25, 2012, BoN and the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) jointly issued a media statement informing the general public that the operations of U-Care in Namibia were in contravention of both the Banking Institutions Act and the Long-Term Insurance Act.
Subsequently, in terms of section 7 of the Banking Institutions Act, the central bank directed all three entities mentioned above to affect the repayment of monies obtained in contravention of the law within a period of 14 days to the respective persons from whom the monies had been obtained.
“None of the entities complied with the bank’s directive to the bank’s satisfication. Thus, the bank lodged an application for the winding-up of the entities in terms of the provisions of section 7(2) of the Act,” explained BoN’s acting Director for Strategic Communication, Emma Haiyambo.
By Staff Reporter