Prowealth employees say they were also duped by Potgieter

 

NOBODY knew about the multi-million dollar swindle that the late Riaan Potgieter is now claimed to have carried out at his Prowealth group of companies before his suicide in December 2008.

The only person who knew that Potgieter, the founder of the Prowealth group, was allegedly embezzling investors’ money on a grand scale was Potgieter himself, according to evidence given by former employees and business partners of Potgieter in the High Court in Windhoek last week.
The one recurring theme that ran through witnesses’ testimony over the first four days of an Insolvency Act enquiry into the financial collapse of a key component of the Prowealth Group, Prowealth Asset Managers, was that they were never aware that Potgieter was allegedly defrauding investors of tens of millions of dollars.
Potgieter is claimed to have used investors’ money to finance his own high-flying lifestyle and to cover the loss-making Prowealth group’s business expenses.
The enquiry is scheduled to continue before the Master of the High Court, Elsie Beukes, today.
Beukes was told last week that out of N$103 million that investors deposited with Prowealth Asset Managers about N$101 million is unaccounted for.
After the High Court granted a liquidation order against Prowealth Asset Managers in late February 2009, it was discovered that more than N$18,36 million had been transferred from that company to a sister company, Prowealth Consult, which provided administrative and support services in the Prowealth Group. More than N$21,49 million was also transferred from Prowealth Asset Managers to Potgieter’s personal bank accounts, while over N$2,98 million was transferred from Prowealth Consult to Potgieter’s personal accounts.
Transfers to Potgieter’s accounts were still being done on his instructions about a week before his suicide, according to Potgieter’s former private assistant, Arlien Burger.
Potgieter was found dead in his home in Klein Windhoek on December 8 2008. On December 1 2008, Burger still relayed instructions from Potgieter to a bookkeeper in the Prowealth group, for N$100 000 to be transferred from Prowealth Consult to one of Potgieter’s bank accounts, and for another N$100 000 to be transferred from Prowealth Asset Managers to another of Potgieter’s accounts, according to an email message that was shown to Beukes on Thursday.
Burger said she only realised something was amiss with Potgieter’s handling of investors’ money after his death, when investors started making enquiries about their investments.
Until then, she said, she was under the impression that investors’ money had been safely placed with Sanlam or Plexus Asset Management.
Burger said whenever she had to help Potgieter to prepare statements for investors he provided her with the figures that had to go onto the statements. On his instructions the records of investors’ investments had to be saved not on the Prowealth computer system, but on a memory stick – supposedly because this information was confidential, Burger said.
Also on Thursday, Eduard Gous, who was a bookkeeper with the group, told Beukes that in his opinion the people in the top structures at Prowealth Asset Management and Prowealth Consult did not know what was being done with investors’ funds. He remarked that he used to think Potgieter was a good person. “Now I don’t,” he added.
Gous also told the enquiry that he followed the practice of his predecessor as bookkeeper to designate investors’ deposits in Prowealth Asset Managers’ books as loans to Potgieter. Prowealth’s auditors also advised him to enter transfers from Prowealth Asset Managers to Potgieter and to Prowealth Consult and other entities in the group as “loans” in the companies’ books, Gous said.
These “loans” between Prowealth investors and Potgieter totaled more than N$35,89 million between August 2004 and February 2007, according to a list which was provided to Pieter Lingenfelder, who was the general manager of the group.
Lingenfelder has told the enquiry that Potgieter informed him his relationship with the investors was privileged, and that the details of their investments with Prowealth were confidential. Lingenfelder has also acknowledged that investors’ money was used to cover the Prowealth group’s business expenses.
Lingenfelder said as Potgieter was the sole shareholder of the Prowealth group, it was his decision what to do with his clients’ money.
“Mr Potgieter’s arrangements with his clients’ money wasn’t my concern,” he remarked.

Govt moves on GIPF culprits

 

GOVERNMENT’S decision to swoop down on those responsible for the looting of the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) was cautiously welcomed with reservations expressed that it might be a little too late.

A media statement issued last week by Minister of Information and Communication Technology Joël Kaapanda stated that Cabinet approved the recommendations by the legal team regarding the GIPF report compiled by the DBO audit firm.
Cabinet decided that all issues identified as criminal were submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor General for possible criminal action to be taken against the culprits.
Civil action will be taken where appropriate.
Moreover, the legal team recommended that disciplinary action be taken against those civil servants found to have neglected their duties in respect of the GIPF functions.
Cabinet further directed Secretary to Cabinet Frans Kapofi to compile a list of such staff members and refer the names to the relevant Government offices, ministries, and agencies to take action in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Act.
It similarly directed the GIPF to take disciplinary action against senior managers who have allegedly neglected their duties in accordance with the GIPF rules and procedures.
Cabinet further directed the ad hoc committee on GIPF, through the Office of the Prime Minister, to assist it to develop an envisaged legislative framework and to continue submitting periodic reports to Cabinet on the GIPF matter.
Further, it directed the Ministry of Justice to speed up the drafting of the legislation governing the GIPF once issues have been ironed out with relevant stakeholders.
Secretary General of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) Evilastus Kaaronda said the decision was long overdue, but failed to understand why Cabinet is only reacting now.
The first audit report detailing the unpaid loans of the Development Capital Portfolio (DCP) of more than N$660 million was already received by the Office of the Prime Minister in 2007.
Since then, Government has failed to take action, purportedly because a number of high-ranking political and Government leaders are implicated.
Notwithstanding, Kaaronda commented that Government’s intentions are good, and that action must be taken in good faith.
“But I doubt Cabinet’s sincerity,” he added. “We need to know who is implicated, or not. I remain very cautious.”
He also urged the public servants who want to take Government to court to release the last audit report on the ill-fated DCP loans.
Chairperson of the Public Servants Committee that plans the court action, Adeline Black said the committee intends to do just that.
The committee’s legal representative Theo Frank has written a letter to Government in which the public workers demand the release of the audit report.
Black said the committee is still awaiting a response to their request, failure of which the committee will continue with legal action.
“While we welcome Government’s announcement, we cannot wait,” said Black. “We will mentor the implementation of Cabinet’s decisions on the GIPF very closely. We know that a precedent was set in the Avid and ODC [Offshore Development Cooperation] cases [in which N$30 million and N$100 million got lost in dodgy investments and still not yet accounted for]. But this is our baby.”
She said if Government is transparent, it would release the latest audit report.
Black said the six Government officials who represented public workers at the GIPF but have failed to protect the interests of the workers, are now tasked to clean up the GIPF mess.
“What is going to happen? Who will take responsibility?” questioned Black. 

Govt moves on GIPF culprits

 

GOVERNMENT’S decision to swoop down on those responsible for the looting of the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) was cautiously welcomed with reservations expressed that it might be a little too late.

A media statement issued last week by Minister of Information and Communication Technology Joël Kaapanda stated that Cabinet approved the recommendations by the legal team regarding the GIPF report compiled by the DBO audit firm.
Cabinet decided that all issues identified as criminal were submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor General for possible criminal action to be taken against the culprits.
Civil action will be taken where appropriate.
Moreover, the legal team recommended that disciplinary action be taken against those civil servants found to have neglected their duties in respect of the GIPF functions.
Cabinet further directed Secretary to Cabinet Frans Kapofi to compile a list of such staff members and refer the names to the relevant Government offices, ministries, and agencies to take action in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Act.
It similarly directed the GIPF to take disciplinary action against senior managers who have allegedly neglected their duties in accordance with the GIPF rules and procedures.
Cabinet further directed the ad hoc committee on GIPF, through the Office of the Prime Minister, to assist it to develop an envisaged legislative framework and to continue submitting periodic reports to Cabinet on the GIPF matter.
Further, it directed the Ministry of Justice to speed up the drafting of the legislation governing the GIPF once issues have been ironed out with relevant stakeholders.
Secretary General of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) Evilastus Kaaronda said the decision was long overdue, but failed to understand why Cabinet is only reacting now.
The first audit report detailing the unpaid loans of the Development Capital Portfolio (DCP) of more than N$660 million was already received by the Office of the Prime Minister in 2007.
Since then, Government has failed to take action, purportedly because a number of high-ranking political and Government leaders are implicated.
Notwithstanding, Kaaronda commented that Government’s intentions are good, and that action must be taken in good faith.
“But I doubt Cabinet’s sincerity,” he added. “We need to know who is implicated, or not. I remain very cautious.”
He also urged the public servants who want to take Government to court to release the last audit report on the ill-fated DCP loans.
Chairperson of the Public Servants Committee that plans the court action, Adeline Black said the committee intends to do just that.
The committee’s legal representative Theo Frank has written a letter to Government in which the public workers demand the release of the audit report.
Black said the committee is still awaiting a response to their request, failure of which the committee will continue with legal action.
“While we welcome Government’s announcement, we cannot wait,” said Black. “We will mentor the implementation of Cabinet’s decisions on the GIPF very closely. We know that a precedent was set in the Avid and ODC [Offshore Development Cooperation] cases [in which N$30 million and N$100 million got lost in dodgy investments and still not yet accounted for]. But this is our baby.”
She said if Government is transparent, it would release the latest audit report.
Black said the six Government officials who represented public workers at the GIPF but have failed to protect the interests of the workers, are now tasked to clean up the GIPF mess.
“What is going to happen? Who will take responsibility?” questioned Black. 

45 years in prison for rape of baby

 

THE Combating of Rape Act of 2000 struck with vengeance in the High Court in Windhoek on Thursday last week, leaving a man convicted of raping a 17-month-old baby at Otjiwarongo three years ago with a 45-year prison term.

Gerhardt Geiseb (40) was sentenced to an effective 47 years’ imprisonment, after he also received a two-year jail term on a charge of committing an indecent act with a girl under the age of 16. Acting Judge A.K. Simpson found Geiseb guilty on that charge and a count of rape on Monday last week.
Both charges relate to events which took place at Otjiwarongo on August 30 2008.
On the morning of that day, a baby girl aged one year and five months was found in a seriously injured condition on a bed in the house where her mother had left her in the care of someone else. The mother had gone off on a drinking spree with some friends.
The baby’s legs were covered in blood and she had serious injuries to her private parts. This prompted suspicions that she had been raped.
Geiseb denied he was guilty on either of the charges. Based on the testimony of a girl, who was 11 years old at the time of the incidents and who told the court that Geiseb had touched her on her breasts and had made sexual gestures towards her while he was lying on a bed with the baby, he was convicted on the charge of committing an indecent act with a girl under the age of 16.
The conviction on the rape charge was based on circumstantial evidence. This mainly consisted of testimony from four witnesses who said they had seen Geiseb on the day in question at the house where the suspected rape took place, and the testimony of three witnesses who said they had seen Geiseb on the bed with the baby.
According to the witnesses’ testimony, Geiseb was the last person seen with the baby before she was found in such an injured state.
After Geiseb was convicted Acting Judge Simpson was informed that he has also been found guilty of rape previously. He was convicted of housebreaking and rape in the High Court in February 1993, and was sentenced to an effective seven-year prison term at the end of that trial.
The Combating of Rape Act stipulates that anyone convicted of rape for a second or subsequent time should be sentenced to not less than 45 years’ imprisonment, unless substantial and compelling circumstances warranting a lesser sentence are found to be present.
Acting Judge Simpson did not find such substantial and compelling circumstances to be present in Geiseb’s case.
“The offence that was committed towards this small baby is shockingly brutal and cruel,” he remarked.
After he had been found guilty, Geiseb’s defence lawyer, Amupanda Kamanja, told the court that Geiseb remains adamant that he is not guilty of the crimes.
Geiseb showed no remorse during the trial and before his sentencing, Acting Judge Simpson said in this regard on Thursday. The court has a duty to protect the public against people who commit crimes like Geiseb has, he said.
Geiseb, who is unmarried and the father of two children, has been in custody, awaiting his trial and its completion, for the past three years.
State advocate Karin Esterhuizen conducted the prosecution.

CLAY MANIA AT THE BANK WINDHOEK KIDS ART ZONE

 The Pottery Association of Namibia (PAN) will once again be part of the Bank Windhoek Kids Art Zone, which is part of the Bank Windhoek Kidz Fun Fair. Last year, the PAN stand was packed with children of all ages, creating beautiful pottery. This year, PAN plans to make the Bank Windhoek Kids Art Zone even more exciting for children, by organising the well-known potter, Lesley, to ‘fire’ the children’s completed artworks. Moreover, PAN will provide the children with information about clay and clay suppliers. Children can participate in all of PAN’s activities for free.

“This year our motto will be, ‘Clay-enjoyment with PAN’. Children of all ages are invited to join us and play with clay. We will do handwork as well as wheelwork. The wheelwork will be for children older than six years. Children can also create their unique pottery with the assistance of professional Namibian potters”, said Betsie van Rensburg, PAN Secretary.

The Bank Windhoek Kidz Fun Fair will take place at the SKW Sports Ground. Entrance fee is N$40 for adults, kids between 2 to 18 pay N$10 and for kids under 2, entrance is free. On 10 September 2011, the gates will open from 09:00 until 19:00 and on 11 September 2011 gates will open from 09:00 until 16:00.

Betsie concluded: “Our aim is to convert our own positive, relaxing experience with clay to each and every child. So come indulge yourself with clay. You will find out that once you start creating with clay, you will not stop”.

For more information on the Kidz Fun Fair please visit www.kidz-fun-fair.com. For more information on the Bank Windhoek Kids Art Zone, visit the Bank Windhoek Arts Festival website at www.bankwindhoekarts.com.na. 

CLAY MANIA AT THE BANK WINDHOEK KIDS ART ZONE

 The Pottery Association of Namibia (PAN) will once again be part of the Bank Windhoek Kids Art Zone, which is part of the Bank Windhoek Kidz Fun Fair. Last year, the PAN stand was packed with children of all ages, creating beautiful pottery. This year, PAN plans to make the Bank Windhoek Kids Art Zone even more exciting for children, by organising the well-known potter, Lesley, to ‘fire’ the children’s completed artworks. Moreover, PAN will provide the children with information about clay and clay suppliers. Children can participate in all of PAN’s activities for free.

“This year our motto will be, ‘Clay-enjoyment with PAN’. Children of all ages are invited to join us and play with clay. We will do handwork as well as wheelwork. The wheelwork will be for children older than six years. Children can also create their unique pottery with the assistance of professional Namibian potters”, said Betsie van Rensburg, PAN Secretary.

The Bank Windhoek Kidz Fun Fair will take place at the SKW Sports Ground. Entrance fee is N$40 for adults, kids between 2 to 18 pay N$10 and for kids under 2, entrance is free. On 10 September 2011, the gates will open from 09:00 until 19:00 and on 11 September 2011 gates will open from 09:00 until 16:00.

Betsie concluded: “Our aim is to convert our own positive, relaxing experience with clay to each and every child. So come indulge yourself with clay. You will find out that once you start creating with clay, you will not stop”.

For more information on the Kidz Fun Fair please visit www.kidz-fun-fair.com. For more information on the Bank Windhoek Kids Art Zone, visit the Bank Windhoek Arts Festival website at www.bankwindhoekarts.com.na. 

US compared ANC to Nats - WikiLeaks

 

Johannesburg - The party that led South Africa out of apartheid had by 2010 slipped into anti-democratic practices reminiscent of the regime it fought to overthrow, says a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.

In the assessment of the Pretoria embassy cable, dated January 8, 2010, the ANC was following in the footsteps of the white-minority regime in its handling of Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), a politically thorny protest movement by impoverished shack dwellers.

"The parallels between AbM's struggles against the ANC and the latter's fight against the apartheid regime cannot be ignored," says the cable, titled "Is the ANC as Democratic as it Claims?"

"The accounts of forced removals, violence, intimidation and leaders in hiding seem like echoes of a time supposedly gone forever."

Eerily reminiscent of a paranoid apartheid era

The ANC won South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994 after decades fighting apartheid.

But the party of Nelson Mandela has lost some of its lustre under his successors, including current President Jacob Zuma - accused of presiding over growing corruption and intolerance for free speech since he came to power in 2009.

The leaked cable draws a link between the psychology of the ANC's fight against apartheid and its handling of the AbM.

"Even talk by ANC leaders of a 'third force' at work are eerily reminiscent of a paranoid apartheid era," it said.

"The AbM movement is a test of democratic governance for the ANC, as it decides what to do when its own people do not support its vision of development."

Hacker group declares cyber war on US police

 

Las Vegas - A hacker group on Saturday claimed it has "defaced and destroyed" websites at scores of US police agencies in retaliation for the arrest of suspected peers accused of hacking into the CIA, British crime agency Soca, and Sony. 

The group called AntiSec - in reference to "anti-security" - said in an online post that it is backing its claim by releasing information it looted during cyber attacks on more than 70 local police agencies.

"We are releasing a massive amount of confidential information that is sure to embarrass, discredit and incriminate police officers across the US," the group said in a message.

"We are doing this in solidarity with Topiary and the Anonymous PayPal LOIC defendants as well as all other political prisoners who are facing the gun of the crooked court system."

Early this week, 18-year-old British man Jack Davis, believed to be a hacker who went by the online name "Topiary", was granted bail in a London court.

Davis is suspected of being a spokesperson for hacking groups Lulz Security (LulzSec) and Anonymous.

He was charged with hacking into websites, including that of Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), which was out of service for several hours on June 20 after apparently being targeted.

LulzSec has claimed responsibility for a 50-day rampage earlier this year against international businesses and government agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the US Senate, and electronics giant Sony.

Anonymous and LulzSec have denounced the arrests in the United States last month of 14 people suspected of taking part in an online attack on the PayPal website organised by Anonymous.

PayPal, Visa and MasterCard stopped accepting donations for WikiLeaks in December after the website began releasing thousands of sensitive state department cables.