Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JOEL Angula, the 42-year-old man implicated in Namibia\u2019s biggest diamond heist in which diamonds worth over N$300 million were stolen from Namib Desert Diamonds (Pty) Ltd (Namdia), says that he should not have been included as an accused in the diamond robbery as he was allegedly also tied up in a bathroom situated at the entrance of the Namdia building by the diamond robbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Angula shared these sentiments whilst leading evidence in his formal bail application before Magistrate Atutala Shikalepo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Angula was arrested on 19 January 2025 after his residence in Khomasdal was searched by police and 13 parcels of diamonds worth N$4.7 million were found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He thus became one of six suspects implicated in the Namdia diamond heist and faces eight counts, which include, amongst others, murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder, possession of uncut diamonds, theft of uncut diamonds, and contravening sections of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), in that he disguised the true origin of the proceeds of crime, or diamonds worth N$4.7 million found at his home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State alleges that Angula, acting in cahoots with other accused, murdered Francis Eiseb, Namdia chief of security, during the heist, as well as tied up and assaulted other Namdia employees by pointing them with firearms and stabbing them with knives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his testimony, Angula said that the robbery had taken place on 18 January and that he had been arrested on 19 January 2025, a day after the robbery when he came to work. He further said that he was only arrested due to the fact that one of the alleged suspects who was found deceased at the scene, identified as Max Endjala, was his cousin and closely related to him as their mothers are sisters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Questioned on the diamond parcels found at his home in Khomasdal worth N$4.7 million, Angula expressed bewilderment as to how the uncut diamonds ended up in his home. \u201cI\u2019m not guilty, because I saw the police having these parcels they spoke of, they had this parcel in my house\u2026 There were two guys that did the search, after a while I just heard that there were diamonds in possession of the police, they placed it on the floor,\u201d Angula said, adding that he never saw the uncut stones or inspected them to confirm that they were indeed diamonds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Angula added that, due to the fact that he was tied up, he does not know who murdered Francis Eiseb, Namdia chief of security, who was gunned down upon arriving on that fateful Saturday at the robbery scene. He further added that he is unaware of who stabbed his colleagues during the robbery, as he was tied up. Angula added that during these happenings he had his hands tied behind his back as well as his legs and that he had managed to untie himself, but that the robbers had come back to tie him up once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State prosecutor in the matter, Johannes Kalipi, said that the State is objecting to the granting of bail due to the seriousness of the charges, fears that Angula might interfere with State witnesses or police investigations as diamonds worth N$295 million still remain missing, and the fact that the State has a strong case against the accused, raising fears of abscondment. He added that it would also not be in the interest of justice or public interest to release the accused on bail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff Reporter JOEL Angula, the 42-year-old man implicated in Namibia\u2019s biggest diamond heist in which diamonds worth over N$300 million were stolen from Namib Desert Diamonds (Pty) Ltd (Namdia), says that he should not have been included as an accused in the diamond robbery as he was allegedly also tied up in a bathroom situated …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":386957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-386956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n