A panel beater based in Oshakati yesterday testified in the trial of Ondangwa-based magistrate Liwena Walter Mikiti in the Windhoek High Court before Acting Judge Eileen Rakow.
Mikiti is accused of duping insurance giant Santam Namibia of N$234 555 in fraudulent insurance claims.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges when his trial started in November last year.
The charges emanate from an alleged car insurance fraud committed during June 2014.
According to the charge sheet, Mikiti was the owner of a 2009 Mercedes Benz C180K BE Classic which was insured by Santam through Welwitschia Insurance Brokers.
The vehicle was involved in a chain collision with three other vehicles on the Oshakati main road near Oneshila on 13 June 2014 and sustained minor damages and could still be driven afterwards.
However, the indictment read, Mikiti submitted a claim which indicated that the accident occurred on 14 June 2014 and that his motor vehicle sustained extensive damages which rendered it a total write-off.
According to the State, Mikiti misrepresented to Sanlam that his motor vehicle was involved in an accident on 14 June and not 13 June 2014.
He did this, the State alleges, while he knew the damages which caused his vehicle to be a write-off were not sustained during the accident of 13 June 2014 and that he made alterations to the accident report prepared on 13 June.
One of the State witnesses, Fannicky Mathias, the owner of a panel beating shop in Oshakati, told the court yesterday that on Friday 13 June 2014 Mikiti contacted him about a quotation for his silver Mercedes Benz that was involved in a collision.
According to Mathias, when Mikiti arrived at his workshop he observed that the rear bumper was damaged and that it would be a costly exercise to replace it.
He said he told Mikiti this and as he was not approved for insurance work, he gave Mikiti the number of another panel beater in Tsumeb.
Mathias further told the court that Mikiti then left his garage with the car and returned after a while and asked if the car could stay in his workshop until he returned.
He went on to say that Mikiti arrived back after a week or so and left with the car, but later that evening he received a call from Mikiti to tell him he was involved in another accident and that he must provide the number of a tow-in service.
He said he then gave Mikiti the number of the tow-in service he uses and Mikiti called after a few minutes to ask him to give the driver of the tow truck N$1 500 for petrol to take the car to Tsumeb.
He agreed and organised with the tow truck driver to meet at a service station not far from his workshop, Mathias told the court, adding that when he saw the car, he could not believe his eyes because it was a total write-off.
The trial continues today.