Maria Amakali
WINDHOEK – Court proceedings could not advance as planned last week in the case of Llewellyn Bezuidenhout after the court could not establish the whereabouts of Bezuidenhout’s docket.
Bezuidenhout, 42, a senior accounting officer within the Ministry of Finance is facing charges of fraud under the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
During his appearance in court before Magistrate Celma Amadhila, he was informed that his docket was not at court. “I am unable to inform this court regarding the status of the investigations as I am not in possession of the docket. We tried to call Oliver for the docket however all calls have gone unanswered. The respective was also contacted through our liaison officer but that call too went unanswered,” explained state prosecutor Bertolini.
Bezuidenhout was arrested on May 13, following an investigation by the ACC and was later released on a N$10 000 bail.
According to court documents, Bezuidenhout used his position as senior accountant officer of the Ministry of Finance dealing with state operated and owned Medical Aid Fund, PSEMAS to convince the owner of a business to pay a gratification fee of N$50 000 in order to expedite medical claims of around N$ 1.35 million that was outstanding since 2016.
Court documents further indicate that Bezuidenhout used his position for his own personal benefit when he requested N$50 000 from one Ciske Smith in order to process his claim. Bezuidenhout allegedly informed Smith that such payment would be channeled to staff at Methealth to expedite the processing of claims of medical practitioners.
Without the docket at court, Magistrate Amadhila postponed the matter for today. The court extended Bezuidenhout’s bail until his scheduled appearance in court. Defence attorney Apollus Millicent is representing Bezuidenhout.