Fourteen accused persons alleged to have been involved in an international online investment scam that was run from Namibia have denied guilt on 222 charges during their latest court appearance.
The 14 accused pleaded not guilty on all of the charges they are facing during an appearance before magistrate Monica Andjaba in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
None of the accused gave a plea explanation to the court or made any admissions on the charges.
At the end of the plea proceedings, Andjaba postponed the case to 31 July for the prosecutor general to make a decision on the further conduct of the prosecution against the accused in the matter.
The 14 accused pleaded on 222 charges, including one count of fraud, one charge of racketeering, 98 counts of trafficking in persons, 98 charges of using the services of victims of trafficking, and charges of working in Namibia without a work permit and remaining in Namibia after the expiry of a visitor’s entry permit.
One of the accused, Chinese national Li Zirian, was not present during the plea proceedings on Thursday, and also was not present during a previous court appearance on 31 March.
The court has issued a warrant for Li’s arrest.
She was released from police custody after being granted bail in an amount of N$70 000 in September last year.
The other accused are People’s Republic of China citizens Fan Jia, Guo Linjie, Zheng Haifeng, Shi Zi Jun, Lin Shu Lin, Chen Wuyu, Wu Nengjun, Wu Weiyang and Chen Youyi, a citizen of Singapore, Ghim Hwee Ang, Cuban national Carlos Batista Valdes, and Namibians Toivo Tileni Herman, Tango Muulyau and Mclanda Domingo.
The state is alleging that the accused were involved in an investment scam carried out through the creation of fake identities on internet platforms, online communication with victims of the scam with the aim of winning their trust and getting victims to invest money in cryptocurrency.
The scam is alleged to have been carried out through a Namibian close corporation, Raylon Investment, which according to prosecutor general Martha Imalwa employed more than 150 Namibians in Windhoek.
The Namibian employees of Raylon Investment were allegedly used to create fake online profiles of people, and through those profiles persons internationally were engaged and enticed to invest money in the alleged scam.
In the fraud charge faced by the accused, it is alleged that they defrauded investors of an amount of about US$465 400 (N$9.04 million).
The alleged scam came to light in October 2023, when the 15 accused in the matter were arrested.
All of the accused have been released on bail.
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