Selma Ikela
Windhoek-The Inspector-General of the Namibian Police Force, Sebastian Ndeitunga, says good progress has been made with the marathon investigation into the missing N$660 million from the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF).
Ndeitunga said completed dockets were forwarded to the prosecutor-general (PG) for a final decision on whether to prosecute suspects in the massive scam.
Ndeitunga was responding to questions on the status of the investigation and whether the case has gone cold.
The Namibian police were assisted by South African company Nexus Forensic Services in their investigation into the millions that went missing through loans granted to several companies.
Those that benefited are prominent business people, retired politicians and senior legal advisors, amongst others, who all have now built up substantial assets.
“For any docket that is still under investigation the PG had to give some instructions and the police are dealing with those instructions from the PG. But what I can say is that most of the dockets were forwarded to the PG. We are looking forward to hearing the PG’s instructions,” said Ndeitunga who was speaking from France where is he attending a meeting.
Ndeitunga stated he couldn’t provide statistics of dockets forwarded to the PG because the dockets are many but what is clear is that some of the dockets might not be decided for prosecution because of the “length and time”.
He said some information was not available and probably destroyed according to the rules and procedures of different institutions.
Ndeitunga said the police did what they could “within the time frame” with the available information.
“Some of the information was out of the country like in South Africa and it was a costly exercise,” he said, adding that some institutions, such as banks, were uncooperative and delayed providing information.
He said it took about six years for the police to get the required information, which further reinforced the view that like in the past some witnesses deliberately withheld information, thus delaying the probe that has saddled taxpayers with a massive bill of millions.
Some witnesses even used their lawyers to prevent police investigators from grilling them, he said.
Ndeitunga referred the reporter to the PG for additional information.
But Prosecutor-General Martha Imalwa told New Era that as far as she was aware only two dockets were submitted wherein investigations were completed.
“I’m in Otjiwarongo – unless you come back to me on Tuesday when I will be able to give you proper information on our decisions,” stated Imalwa.
She explained that her office guided the investigation regarding what evidence should be gathered.
She added that the case is very complex and prosecutors are the ones who know what evidence is required in order to prove charges.
Close to 20 years ago GIPF was swindled of about N$660 million in loans granted from its Development Capital Portfolio (DCP) to several local companies, some of which had little or no business mileage, while others suspiciously went bankrupt after receiving loans.