A man who allegedly unlawfully sold shares that did not belong to him was granted bail in the amount of N$25 000 on Tuesday by Magistrate David Mukuyu. Liaan de Kock (40) is accused of defrauding Simonis Storm Securities of close to N$9 million.
It is alleged that he fraudulently sold or transferred ownership of shares belonging to clients of the securities firm.
He was arrested in May this year after his alleged scam came to light following queries from clients about dividends not received. De Kock used to work at the company as a dealer. It is alleged that he transferred Standard Bank Namibia shares into the name of his wife, Jessè Strauss, and Capricorn shares into an account of Connie van Tonder.
The State, represented by public prosecutor Eric Naikaku, did not oppose the granting of bail, and proposed a bail amount of N$50 000 with several conditions.
Mukuyu, however, said a bail amount should not prevent an accused from attaining his freedom.
An excessive bail amount can be just as good as turning down bail, he said before granting bail of N$25 000. Mukuyu further ordered that De Kock must surrender all his travel documents to the police, and must not apply for new documents pending finalisation of the trial. He further ordered that the accused may not leave the district of Windhoek without the written permission of the investigating officer, and must report at the Criminal Investigative Division on Mondays and Fridays between the hours of 08h00 and 17h00. De Kock paid his bail. He was represented by lawyer Mekumbu Tjiteere, and the matter was postponed to 11 September for a section 119 plea.
-rrouth@nepc.com