State targets assets of murdered Dutch man

A Dutch citizen who was murdered in an execution-style killing at Swakopmund in June last year was involved in the illegal drugs trade, the prosecutor general is saying in a sworn statement filed at the Windhoek High Court.

Half a kilogramme of cocaine, items used to weigh and package cocaine, and N$2 000 in cash were found in the car that Dutch national Roland Masolijn had been driving on the day he was killed, prosecutor general Martha Imalwa says in an affidavit filed at the court.

Masolijn (53) was killed next to the vehicle – a Ford Ranger Raptor pickup – when he was shot in the head while washing the bakkie in front of his rented home in the Ocean View area of Swakopmund on 20 June last year.

He was murdered by a gunman who fled in a car that was waiting for him close to the scene.

Nobody has been arrested in connection with the murder yet, Imalwa says in her statement.

After the killing, Dutch media outlets reported that Masolijn had been a well-known figure in the criminal underworld in Eindhoven, a city in the southern part of The Netherlands, and had previously been convicted of murder in his home country.

Masolijn entered Namibia on a 35-day tourist permit in February 2019, and remained in the country after his permit expired, Namibian Police inspector general Joseph Shikongo says in a letter to executive director of justice Gladice Pickering, which has also been filed at the court.

The information about Masolijn and his killing was provided to the court in an application by Imalwa in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

In the application, Imalwa has asked the court to issue a property preservation order in respect of funds in two bank accounts of Masolijn’s girlfriend at the time of his death, Marketa Horases, funds in a trust account of the law firm Dr Weder, Kauta & Hoveka Inc, and N$2 000 in cash that the police seized on the day of the murder.

Imalwa says in her affidavit that a preservation order in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act is required before she can apply to have assets forfeited to the state.

The prosecutor general also says money in the two accounts in Horases’ name and in the law firm’s trust account is the proceeds of unlawful activities, namely dealing in drugs and money laundering.

She says after Masolijn was killed the police found 500 grams of cocaine, valued at about N$306 000, in the Ford pickup he was washing when he was shot.

In the same vehicle, the police also found items like N$2 000 in cash, a jewellery scale, an electronic blender and a bucket and lunch box, both with white powder in it.

The results of tests done on the white powder showed that it contained cocaine, Imalwa says.

More cocaine was found in a sealed plastic bag in the bakkie.

Imalwa says a financial investigation revealed that the vehicle which Masolijn was using, and in which the cocaine was found, was registered in the name of Horases, who lived with Masolijn in the house he was renting at Swakopmund.

It was also established that Masolijn had no bank accounts in Namibia, did not have a known legitimate source of income, and made use of Horases’ bank accounts, Imalwa says.

He also gave Horases and other people large amounts of money to deposit on his behalf, with those deposits including payments made for the Ford pickup, which Masolijn bought for N$881 000 in January 2021 and registered in Horases’ name.

Horases sold the vehicle for N$650 000 in April this year, Imalwa says. Two days after that transaction, she paid N$340 000 into a trust account of Dr Weder, Kauta & Hoveka Inc, as a last payment for a property she was buying at Swakopmund.

The law firm has informed the police that it received a total amount of N$940 000 into its trust account for the purchase of the property by Horases, Imalwa says.

Imalwa alleges there are reasonable grounds to believe the money in Horases’ different accounts are the proceeds of money laundering offences.

A provisional property preservation order granted by the court on 27 July was extended by judge Esi Schimming-Chase to 11 October yesterday, after Horases informed the court she wanted to be given time to apply for legal representation from the Directorate of Legal Aid.