Is this the end of Harambee?
Ondonga King dies at 86
Robbers get away with N$10 000 from Windhoek company
Power struggle tears ELCRN apart
2nd Land Conference
Road Safety Campaign
Two Angolans found guilty of defrauding finance ministry
by Kelvin Chiringa
Two of the dozens of Angolan nationals arraigned before the court for defrauding the finance ministry out of millions of dollars via a Value Added Tax (VAT) refund scam were found guilty after their own admission.
Paulino Manuel Natal did plead guilty to providing a forged invoice in order to claim VAT refunds from the ministry of finance, which falsely claimed that he had purchased from Namibia and exported to Angola equipment to the sum of N$797 525 which entitled him to a VAT refund of N$104 025.
He however told the court that he did not benefit a cent from the company that processed their VAT returns, called Aveshe Consultancy.
He admitted having also committed the same crime between September and October of 2015 whereupon he claimed refunds of N$126 819 for buying another equipment to the tune of N$972 279.
Natal admitted to having caused the finance ministry a potential loss of N$230 844 and asked for mercy from the court.
He said, "Throughout my unlawful dealings I was being assisted by Mr. Paquete Americo Kapayola Jose who is accused number 11 as per the indictment. Accused number 11 is an Angolan national and he was capable of communicating with me regarding my unlawful activities," he said.
Natal is said to have been in custody for almost three years now and his defence lawyer pleaded with the court to fine him rather than lock him up given that he was a first-time offender and had languished in jail already.
His lawyer also said the more he stays in a Namibian prison the more taxpayers' money would be used to take care of him and thus had to be set free for Angola.
Another one, Eugenio Gourgel (35) pleaded guilty to all charges levelled against him.
He admitted to having changed the dates of his invoice in order to claim VAT refunds from the ministry through the same consulting company.
The consultancy had asked him to have the company from which he had purchased equipment change the dates of purchase on his invoice so he can make the claims to the ministry.
According to the state, Gourgel paid a lady known as Anna at the company to change the dates and she too has been nabbed for fraud.
He sought to claim VAT to the tune of N$27 524.74 but again, he too said he never received a cent from the consulting company.
When he was making these claims, he knew well that he had not bought anything from Namibia to export to Angola and that the documents he used were forged.
His defence counsel pleaded with the court not lock him up but rather fine him to N$20 000.
The state weighed in and countered that the crimes they are being convicted of involved taxpayers' money and thus jail would be the necessary punishment.
The other accused have in the meantime been remanded in custody.
Theft convicted Standard Bank employee disputes sentence
© 2018 The Villager Newspaper