Staff Reporter
THE Prosecutor General, Martha Imalwa, is today set to hear the outcome of a forfeiture order application, which could see the forfeiture of funds deposited into Pupkewitz Megabuild by fraud accused Martin Eugene Smith, who, alongside his colleague, is accused of defrauding the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) of about N$18.6 million.
Smith and his co-accused, Vabiola Awases, who were workers in the fund’s annuities department, are alleged to have altered the banking details of the pension fund’s legitimate beneficiaries and channelled the funds into over 50 accounts, from which they siphoned the funds for their own benefit.
The positive balances amounting to N$5 million in the three bank accounts of Smith, which all received unlawful GIPF funds, were already forfeited to the State on 10 March 2023, as well as immovable properties forfeited on 9 November 2023.
In the current forfeiture application, the Prosecutor General seeks an additional amount of N$636,955.76 in the account with Ecosun with M Pupkewitz Megabuild that is held for and on behalf of Smith.
During the period 4 February 2022 until 13 May 2022, a total of N$735,000.00 was received into the FNB account of Pupkewitz Megabuild for the account of Smith. The reasons for the payments were for building and renovations at his residence. On 30 September 2022, Smith instructed Pupkewitz Megabuild via email to transfer all credit on his account 023196, with a credit amount of N$636,955.76, to the account C24196 held in the name of Ecosun Trading.
Ecosun Trading belongs to Mr Xu Weitian, who was represented as being the contractor for the building project of Smith.
Currently, Smith and Awases are set to return to court on 12 May 2025 for the continuation of their trial, in which they are being sued by GIPF. This is after an application for absolution from instance by the two accused was dismissed by High Court Judge Thomas Masuku in November 2024.
While the two challenged the admissibility of computer evidence provided by GIPF in the matter and sought to have the matter dismissed, the judge ruled that there was evidence adduced by the plaintiff’s (GIPF’s) witnesses which suggested that the defendants had a lot of money in their accounts and that they worked in concert using computers.
“The investigation established a prima facie case that the defendants manipulated some of the information stored in the plaintiff’s system for paying annuitants. As such, the defendants have to be called to give their own side of the story,” Masuku said.
