By Roland Routh
WINDHOEK – The Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday imposed N$70 000 bail on a civil servant charged with defrauding the government’s Department of Inland Revenue.
The man, Laban Hainyanyula, is accused of defrauding government of more than N$600 000 over a period of time through fictitious tax refunds.
The bail amount is lower than what state prosecutor Erastus Hatutale wanted, which was N$100 000.
However, Hainyanyula’s lawyer, Milton Engelbrecht, objected to the amount saying his client could not afford the amount.
Engelbrecht said he would bring another application for a reduction in bail within the next few weeks.
The 27-year old Hainyanyula works at inland revenue. It was his first court appearance.
Magistrate John Sindano did not ask Hainyanyula to plead to the charges of fraud, forgery and uttering.
While information is sketchy, this newspaper did learn that Hainyanyula allegedly issued tax refunds to people not eligible for it. The amount so far stands at almost N$600 000.
The case was postponed to April 07 for further investigations and Hainyanyula remains in custody.