Windhoek
The number of accused persons in the fraud case involving N$140 million from the Receiver of Revenue has shot up to 19.
Joshua Kaviyu, a Namibian, was the first and only accused who was granted bail last week. Kaviyu is part of a group of 14 Angolans and two Namibians who were nabbed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in December last year.
Three more accused persons, two Angolans and Namibian, were later added, bringing the number to 19.
The Namibians allegedly connived with several Angolans to help them submit false tax refund claims to the Receiver of Revenue.
A group of 11 accused will meet at the magistrate’s court on Thursday for setting the date for a bail hearing. The accused have been divided into groups for the bail hearings.
The other accused are Mamsy Mweneni Hilma Nuuyoma, a Namibian, while the Angolan nationals were identified as Lukau Nestor, Benvindo Momafuba, Pembele Zimutu, Paulo Kiala, Joaquim Pedro Espanhol, Joao Manuel dos Santos, Tatiana Luquena Muchadu Gonga, Carlos Victor Eliseu, Isaac Cativa Cupessala, Paquete Americo Kapayola Jose, Eugenio Pio do Amaral Gougel, Malakias Tomas Rufine, Paulino Manuel Natal, Carlos Felecoano Tchinduku, Miapa Aurelio Nelson, Lucio Jose Cazembe and Noah Boykie Nukosho.
Hidinwa, the first accused, alone faces a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud, while he and his co-accused face charges of fraud, forgery and uttering.
They were arrested at the VAT office near the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule in Windhoek in December, while trying to claim tax refunds. The arrests came as a result of ongoing investigations at the request of the finance ministry into cases where value added tax (VAT) receipts were forged to claim refunds from the Receiver of Revenue.