SWAKOPMUND – The suspects among them a NaTIS official were arrested last week at Walvis Bay after Nampol uncovered a syndicate involving the illegal registration of vehicles at the town and were granted bail of N$10 00 each last week Thursday.
The trio, 30-year-old, David Koshenge, who is a NaTIS employee at Walvis Bay, 25-year-old- Jekonia Indongo and 33-year-old Theofilus Nakanwe were granted bail by Magistrate Vicky Nicoladis during their formal bail application hearing. Their case was once again postponed to November 07 for further investigation. Only Koshenge could post bail. The acting Crime Investigations Coordinator of the Erongo Region, Detective Inspector Erastus Iikuyu last week told New Era that the suspects unlawfully forged vehicle registration documents at the Namibia Traffic Information System (NaTIS) office in Walvis. He explained that the imported cars, which were registered were only in transit and were not supposed to be given clearance certificates to be registered in Namibia. “Based on a suspicion regarding the alleged fraudulent activities, Nampol initiated an undercover operation which was successful,” Iikuyu told New Era. He said the police arrested Indongo, who is a taxi driver, after a forged registration document was found in his possession. “Following Indongo’s arrest, about 10 similar documents were found at the houses of all three suspects during an intensive search that was conducted by Nampol” he said.
The police also found a certificate from a book, which was stolen at the Ministry of Finance office in Windhoek, as well as a date stamp belonging to the Roads Authority (RA). Several days after the arrest of three men, the police also caught two clearing agents red-handed while trying to register imported vehicles illegally at NaTis in Walvis Bay. The two already made their first appearance in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court on Friday and were denied bail. The suspects are 30-year-old Selicia Nikerwa and 38-year-old Martha Ithana October and they are expected to be back in court on October 10. Iikuyu also told New Era that the two suspects, were arrested on September 25, 2013, after more than 20 forged documents were found in their possession.
By Eveline de Klerk