Bribery case transferred to High Court
Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa has decided to prosecute suspects implicated in the Fishrot bribery matter known as the Namgomar case in the Windhoek High Court.
Windhoek senior magistrate Linus Samunzala ordered that the matter be referred to the High Court for a first pre-trial appearance on 22 April, the same day as the Fishrot Fishcor matter.
Former minister of fisheries Bernhard Esau, former justice minister Sacky Shanghala, former managing director of Investec Asset Management Namibia James Hatuikulipi, his cousin Tamson ‘Fitty’ Hatuikulipi, who is also the son-in-law of Esau, Ricardo Gustavo and Pius Natangwe Mwatelulo will appear on charges of corruptly receiving payments of at least N$103.6 million to allow Icelandic fishing company Samherji secure access to horse mackerel quotas in Namibia.
Shanghala’s lackey, Nigel van Wyk has been added to the list of accused after the State made a successful application for him to be joined to the fray. His taxpayerfunded lawyer Jermaine Muchali made a desperate attempt in vain to have Van Wyk’s trial separated from the Fishrot accused.
He, however, indicated that he will appeal the ruling to have Van Wyk tried as a cohort in the Fishrot Namgomar trial in the High Court. The other accused in the matter are legal entities that belong or are represented by the accused.
These are Namgomar Pesca Namibia - represented by Gustavo, Erongo Clearing and Forwarding, JTH Trading and Fitty Entertainment - represented by Tamson, Otuafika Investments and Otuafika Logistics - represented by Mwatelulo, Olea Investments, Erf One Nine Zero Eight Zero Kuisebmond, Greyguard Investments and Cambadara Trust - represented by James, Omholo Trust – represented by Shanghala, Esja Holdings and Mermaria Seafood Namibia - represented by Egill Helgi Arnason, Saga Seafood, Esja Investment and Heinaste Investments - represented by Ingvar Juliusson.
Also on the accused list is Icelandic citizens Helgason Adelsteinn, Juliusson and Arnason.
They will be arraigned on two counts of racketeering in contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, two counts of money laundering, three counts of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act, three counts of fraud with alternatives of theft and tax evasion; one count of conspiracy to commit fraud.
Van Wyk alone faces further charges of unlawful possession of ammunition and assault on a member of the police, while he and Shanghala face a charge of defeating or obstructing or attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.
The bribery scandal came to light after Jóhannes Stefánsson, the former general manager of Samherji in Namibia blew the whistle on the alleged corruption.
According to media reports, Samherji’s CEO and biggest shareholder, Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, authorised the bribe payments.
Gustavo was allegedly the sole director of Namgomar Namibia which were used to divert the quotas to Samherji. According to information available, Esau and Shanghala forged a bilateral cooperation agreement with Angola’s former fisheries minister, Victoria De Barros, her son Joao De Barros and one Antonius Fransisco for the allocation of quotas to each other.
Two entities were then established, Namgomar Pesca in Angola and Namgomar Namibia which were used to allocate the quotas.
According to the charges, the quota from Namibia to Angola were then illegally sold to Samherji contrary to the spirit of the agreement.