WINDHOEK – Two men who allegedly used a stolen cheque to commit fraud of thousands of dollars were granted bail of N$28 000 each in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Stanley Stoffberg and Americo Condangongo appeared in court for defrauding Pupkewitz before Magistrate Justine Asino. The State alleges the two together with a third man tendered a stolen cheque of N$88 000 to buy laptops and cellphones. The person who offered the cheque is still at large. After prosecutor Samantha Diergaardt proposed bail of N$30 000 for each accused, Stoffberg’s lawyer, Milton Engelbrecht launched an application to reduce the bail amount.
According to Engelbrecht his client is currently unemployed since he lost his job after the alleged fraud was uncovered leading to his arrest. Stoffberg in his testimony for the bail reduction told the court that he did not know the cheque was stolen, but in the same vein admitted to sharing in the fraudulently obtained items. During cross-examination Diergaardt wanted to know from Stoffberg whether he knew that some of the items bought with the stolen cheque were taken by his co-accused who then went and sold them. Stoffberg admitted that much, but denied knowing the cheque was stolen.
She also wanted to know from him what he did with the N$800 that was left over on the cheque to which he replied, “I don’t know what devil came into me, when I saw there was N$800 left I booked out two mic cables and small Bluetooth speaker for myself.” She also asked Stoffberg whether or not the procedures at the company dictate that when a customer pays with a cheque, it must first be ascertained that the money is indeed in the company account before the purchases may be booked out, which he acknowledged.
Stoffberg was adamant that he did in fact call the accountant who told him that the money was showing and that is why he continued with the transaction. Stoffberg informed magistrate Asino that he received N$4 200 from Condangongo after the latter sold the items he took from the store.
For Condangongo who did not testify, Lawyer G.E Nyandoro merely asked the court to reduce his bail to N$25 000. In submissions Engelbrecht strongly argued that an unreasonable bail amount is tantamount to a court refusing an applicant bail. He even went to the extent of quoting the case of prominent lawyer Dirk Conradie who faces corruption charges involving millions, but was granted bail of N$50 000 which was later reduced to N$30 000 in the High Court. He argued Conradie’s case is in no way binding on the magistrate’s court, since the bail was granted in the High Court and each court has its own discretion insofar as bail is concerned. She argued that the State has a strong case against both accused and that a lesser amount will not serve as an inducement for the accused to stand trial.
On the part of Stoffberg she said he already admitted under oath to having received a portion of the proceeds and that a real risk exists that he would rather forfeit the bail money rather than face imprisonment if found guilty. Asino said while the court is mindful that bail should not serve some form of anticipatory punishment and all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty, the court has a duty to impose such bail to serve as an inducement to an accused to stand trial. She then granted them each bail of N$28 000 on condition that they surrender their travel documents to the investigating officer; report every Friday between 08h00 and 10H00 at the offices of the Crime Investigations Department and that they do not leave the district of Windhoek without the prior permission of the investigating officer and do not interfere with police investigations.
By Roland Routh