Staff Reporter
THE fraud and embezzlement case involving August 26 Textile and Garment Factory (Pty) Ltd, in which Paulus Moshana, the former finance manager, is accused of misappropriating around N$26 million, has been postponed to 19 and 23 August 2023 due to issues with the availability of legal representation.
According to court documents, Moshana is accused of embezzling or stealing money from August 26 Textiles during the period from 14 April 2014 to 5 July 2018. The plaintiff, August 26 Textiles and Garment Factory (Pty) Ltd, claims that Moshana directed funds into accounts of companies allegedly linked to him.
In the amended particulars of the claim, August 26 alleges that the first defendant, Paulus Moshana, and three entities—Proficient Investment Close Corporation (second defendant), Veer Investment (Pty) Ltd (third defendant), and Vuma Investment Close Corporation (fourth defendant)—were unjustly enriched at the expense of the plaintiff. They are alleged to owe the plaintiff N$6.8 million, N$8.8 million, and N$12.5 million, respectively, which amounts were neither due nor payable by the plaintiff to the second, third, and fourth defendants.
The August 26 factory claims that, due to the negligence, breach of duties, breach of trust, or breach of care by the first defendant, the plaintiff’s funds were embezzled, stolen, lost, or otherwise dissipated.
A witness statement by Silas Chicken Amunjela, a retired general and former managing director of August 26 Textile and Garment Factory, detailed how the dubious scheme was uncovered.
“On 12 July 2018, I was approached by Mr. Taala Johannes, the warehouse supervisor and system administrator of the company, with an invoice paid on 3 May 2016 to Proficient Investment CC for N$670,000.00. It was for the fixing of a burnt PC board, electrical cable, and other components for a genset. I asked Mr. Moshana to provide me with the bank statements and invoices, and he brought some files to my office with the requested documents. I went through the files and discovered transactions made since I took office in June 2017, which I did not authorize despite being in the office at the time,” Amunjela said.
He added that he tasked Taala Johannes and Faustina Naftal with verifying the invoices and bank statements made since June 2017 during his tenure.
“Their verification uncovered various unauthorized transactions during this period. Additionally, the payments and related invoices were not discussed at management meetings, which took place every Tuesday. It was also suspicious that all these payments were uploaded and verified by Mr. Moshana, who then took the payments to Mr. Kasheeta for authorization while I was available. Mr. Kasheeta was only supposed to authorize payments in my absence. The printout from the company’s banking system indicated that all suspicious transactions were processed by Mr. Moshana, his wife, Ester Shimwandi, and Mr. Kasheeta,” Amunjela said.
He reported the findings to the CEO of August 26 Holding Company, Colonel Retired George Kaxuxuena, and requested an investigation.
“He agreed to investigate and advised me to report the matter to the police. In addition, the company engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services to conduct a forensic investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds from 1 March 2011 to 15 July 2018. On 5 December 2018, PricewaterhouseCoopers issued its forensic report, which confirmed my suspicions that various payments were made inappropriately and to suppliers who did not provide any services to the company. The report recommended that the company consult its legal advisors and institute legal actions against Mr. Moshana,” Amunjela concluded.
