Staff Reporter
THE Crime Investigative Unit of the Namibian Police this weekend started a probe into what can be considered as Namibia’s biggest extortion case in recent memory, involving N$55 million to change an affidavit in a murder investigation.
The investigation was sparked by a damages and compensation claim by the South African lawyers of Alta van Wyk, widow of farm manager Gerhard van Wyk, who died of a gunshot wound sustained during a scuffle with the employer of the Van Wyk family and British billionaire, Harvey Boulter, who was also wounded in the scuffle.
Boulter filed the complaint at the Kamanjab police shortly after his bail conditions were relaxed in the Magistrate’s Court earlier in the week.
Boulter appeared in court on charges of murder of his foreman, Gerhard van Wyk, after a scuffle in which Boulter was shot through his hand and a bullet entered Van Wyk’s abdomen from which he later succumbed on his way to his private doctor in Outjo, bypassing the fully-equipped Kamanjab clinic.
In statements before the court, Van Wyk’s widow declared under oath that Boulter had first pointed the gun at her husband’s head in an argument before the scuffle for the gun that eventually went off and wounded both Boulter and Van Wyk.
The police are already investigating charges of making a false declaration after Alta van Wyk indicated in front of witnesses that her initial statement was wrong and that she wanted to change it, as Boulter never pointed the gun at her husband’s head.
The case took a dramatic turn when the lawyers of the murder-accused Boulter in South Africa informed Boulter that another South African law firm, Dentons, representing Van Wyk, approached SWVG Inc with partner David Swartz, demanding payment of N$55 million.
“Mr Swart of SWVG explained to me that in a meeting, Mrs van Wyk’s Dentons lawyers made it clear that she would only correct her police statement upon immediate payment of N$55 million.
“Since she had already previously admitted in front of prominent Namibians at the court that her statement implying intent to kill her husband by pointing a gun to his head was wrong, and that she wanted to change it, I took it as an attempt to extort payment from me before she would give the correct version of the tragic events that still traumatize me,” Boulter said in a statement that was taken from home over the weekend in Windhoek.
He confirmed that he laid charges and that the police investigation unit took a statement from him over the weekend and confirmed that another case of obstructing justice is with the police in Opuwo.
The two charges against Van Wyk will be treated separately.
Boulter also revealed that he informed the police of an earlier report of extortion by unknown “scammers” he made to the police after he and a staff member were contacted with an offer to make this “case go away” if certain amounts which he does not want to reveal, are paid.
The police confirmed to him that “extortion rackets” are run from prison cells all over the country where news reports are scanned for opportunities by criminal gangs. These investigations are also underway.
Boulter said he took the steps and laid charges after he realized that the initial statements must have convinced prosecutors that he was a danger and therefore should remain in custody for as long as possible. He spent 141 days in custody and hospital under 24-hour police guard before he was set free on bail of N$500 000.
“I have full confidence in the Namibian police and legal system and I myself went through all the steps of justice for the past year until my bail conditions were relaxed in the Kamanjab court this week, and in the end, I accept whatever the courts decide.
“I love Namibia and invested heavily in the country and various communities over the years, but the extortion and defeating the ends of justice is now in the hands of the police and just like I am awaiting my fate, Alta van Wyk should be subjected to an investigation and a decision from the Office of the Prosecutor General. In the end, we are all equal before the law,” Boulter said.
Harvey Boulter, well-known for his philanthropy over the past years amongst impoverished communities in the remote areas of Kunene and Erongo, at a recent charity event in Henties Bay.
