Staff Reporter
WINDHOEK High Court Judge Orben Sibeya has postponed the ruling on who will be appointed as a new curator bonis to oversee the restrained assets of the Fishrot accused to 19 February 2024.
This order was given by Judge Sibeya on 31 January 2023, after hearing arguments from the lawyers representing the Prosecutor General, as well as those representing the Fishrot accused, who are implicated in the biggest fisheries corruption scandal, a fraud case in which they are accused of embezzling over N$300 million from government fishing quotas.
David Bruni and Ian McLaren, who were tasked with managing the multimillion-dollar assets owned by Fishrot-accused kingpins last year, were relieved of overseeing the restrained assets of the Fishrot accused by Judge Sibeya after they said that they do not have the capacity to manage the vast number of properties owned by the accused. The collective holdings of the group encompass 26 erven of land distributed across various Namibian towns and Cape Town, South Africa. Among these, Tamson boasts the highest count of immovable properties, totaling 17 erven along with seven sectional title units. Within the group’s vehicle fleet, there are 48 units, with Tamson and James leading with 14 and 13 vehicles, respectively. These vehicles encompass luxury models such as the Volkswagen Amarok 3.0, Mercedes Benz R231, Range Rover Sport, Ford Ranger DC 3.2 Wild Track, and Range Rover 5.0 V8. The curators oversee the accused’s 33 bank accounts, with James holding 12 of them, including three in South Africa, the USA, and Europe. Furthermore, the assets under management encompass the accused’s stakes in various companies and trusts. Alongside managing the accused’s personal assets, the curators also oversee the affairs and properties of their associated companies.
There are two sets of nominees as replacement curators, namely, Messrs Engelbrecht and Stander from South Africa, nominated by the Prosecutor General, and Messrs Hecht and Knoetze, nominated by the Fishrot accused. In the application, the Prosecutor General has opposed the accused’s James and Tamson Hatuikulipi, Ricardo Gustavo, Sacky Shanghala, Bernard Esau, and Pius Mwatelulo’s request to have Hecht and Knoetze oversee their frozen assets, as she took issue with the precondition that they request a bi-monthly payment of fees for their appointment as well as their lack of experience as curators in comparison to that of the PG’s nominees.
Lawyer Annerie Keulder, representing the Prosecutor General, argued that the restraint order, neither the Prevention of Organized Crime Act (POCA), does not make provision for the payment of curator fees prematurely, as this is only done after a confiscation order is made by the court of the assets which takes years.
In response, the Fishrot accused took issue in relation to the PG’s nominees on the fact that they are foreigners. The judge also questioned whether or not this would have an effect on the administration of such large assets. To this, the PG’s lawyers, Annerie Keulder, said that South Africa is not so far, and there is nothing stopping the PG’s nominations from applying for work permits like other instructed lawyers from overseas.
Vas Soni, a legal practitioner representing some of the Fishrot accused, also argued that with massive assets such as those of the accused, a close relationship is needed with the past curators and the present chosen nominees, which he said elevates the need for the curators to be from Namibia and not abroad.
