Staff Reporter
IT is premature to reveal findings of the ongoing investigations into August 26 holdings, a state-owned company currently being investigated for fraud, theft, tax evasion and money laundering.
This is according to the Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Frans Kapofi, while answering questions posed by McHenry Venaani, the leader of the official opposition party, PDM.
Venaani wanted to know how far the investigations into the allegations of corruption at the company were, and when a report on the findings into such investigations can be expected.
August 26 Holding Company is an incorporated company which was established in August 1998 and is 100% owned by the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs.
Kapofi explained that during July 2018, a criminal case was registered in Windhoek under case number CR500/07/2018.
The case against August 26 relates to fraud, theft, tax evasion and money laundering.
“As the investigations under the criminal case progressed, the Namibian Police, together with the Office of the Prosecutor General, also commenced with the process of tracing proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act of 2004,” Kapofi explained.
The August 26 Holding Company has a number of subsidiaries, such as, August Twenty-Six Logistics, August 26 Construction and August 26 Manufacturing, which previously traded under the name August 26 Textile.
Kapofi said it is imperative to note that the focus of the current investigation is on August 26 Textile, now trading as August 26 Manufacturing.
“You will agree with me that document-based investigations take a while to conclude. This is attributed to the fact that the police have to rely on a number of other entities to obtain the required documents helpful to the investigation. Some of these institutions are swift in the provision of these documents, while others take quite a bit of time. We have been informed by our counterparts at the Namibian Police Force that they are still waiting for documents and additional information from various institutions,” Kapofi said.
He added that there are also a number of witnesses who had to provide statements under oath.
“I can, however, inform you that majority of witness statements provided under oath have been obtained. I would like to believe that it is in the interest of all of us for the investigation to be conducted in a proper manner and not precipitously, for the matter to be concluded fairly and justly. This is an important case and the Police are therefore carefully gathering and considering evidence. Given this information, and also the fact that the investigation is focusing on a period of over a decade, it would be pre-mature at this stage to state when the report on the findings should be expected,” Kapofi concluded.
