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One of the accused in the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) fraud and corruption case, Cedric Willemse, might have a plausible explanation for alleged bribes and kickbacks that he received while employed by Namcor. This was said by magistrate Olga Muharukua in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before she granted Willemse (52) bail in an amount of N$200 000. The magistrate found that Willemse could have a plausible explanation for the money paid into his bank account, with the payments alleged to have originated from fuel companies that did business with Namcor. Although the evidence before the court warrants suspicion and an investigation, at this stage the state cannot with certainty disprove that Willemse may have a valid explanation for the payments he received, Muharukua said. She concluded that Willemse’s continued detention would not be in the interest of justice. Willemse was arrested on 8 July, and has been held in custody since then. He is facing 10 charges in connection with alleged fraud and corruption at Namcor, where he was employed as the state-owned fuel company’s supply and logistics manager. The charges against him include counts of fraud, corruptly using an office or position for gratification, corruptly accepting gratification, money laundering and failing to pay tax. The charges include an allegation that Willemse received N$3.01 million from the fuel company Enercon Namibia, which was a client of the Namcor subsidiary Namcor Petroleum Trading and Distribution, in return for authorising the supply of fuel to Enercon above the company’s credit limit with Namcor. The charges also include an allegation that Willemse received a payment of N$1.04 million in July 2022 for facilitating the sale of nine filling stations at Namibian Defence Force (NDF) bases by Enercon to Namcor. Namcor paid N$53.2 million for the filling station assets. An Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigator told the court during Willemse’s bail hearing that the directors of Enercon signed an agreement in terms of which Enercon sold filling station assets at nine NDF bases to Namcor on 15 July 2022. On the same date, the close corporation Erongo Petroleum paid N$150 000 into a bank account of the close corporation Quality Meat Supplies, and also on the same day, Quality Meat Supplies paid the same amount of N$150 000 into a personal bank account of Willemse, the investigator testified. He added that Victor Malima, who is wanted in connection with the Namcor fraud and corruption case, is the beneficial owner of Quality Meat Supplies, and that Erongo Petroleum has ties with Enercon. Quality Meat Supplies made payments of N$150 000, N$960 000 and N$350 000 into Willemse’s bank account in July 2022, followed by a payment of N$500 000 in August 2022 and a payment of N$50 000 in November 2022, the court heard. Willemse denied a claim by public prosecutor Basson Lilungwe that the payments, which amounted to N$1.96 million between July and November 2022, were bribes and kickbacks paid to him. He told the court that money paid to him was for meat he had sold from his farm and for logistics services provided by a close corporation of which he is a member. Willemse also said he has evidence like invoices on a laptop computer to which he does not have access, as it has been seized by the ACC and that he cannot get access to other evidence to back up his explanation for the payments, as it is stored in boxes at his farm in the Okahandja area. The magistrate ordered that once released on bail, Willemse must report to Okahandja Police Station between 08h00 and 09h00 and between 18h00 and 19h00 every weekday, from Monday to Friday. He also has to hand all of his travel documents to the investigating officer of his case, may not leave the district of Windhoek without the permission of the investigating officer, and may not interfere with state witnesses in the matter, Muharukua ordered. Willemse, who is represented by defence lawyer Boris Isaacks, and his co-accused have to appear in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court again on 20 November. Six of his co-accused – former Namcor managing director Imms Mulunga, former senior Namcor employees Jennifer Hamukwaya and Olivia Dunaiski, businessmen Peter and Malakia Elindi, and Leo Nandago – were denied bail in a ruling delivered in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on 26 September. An appeal to the High Court has been filed against that ruling.
