Scrap copper corruption trial postponed to ’09

A PLAN to launch a constitutional attack on two sections of Namibia’s Criminal Procedure Act has interrupted the fraud and corruption trial of a former Telecom Namibia manager and two Windhoek businessmen in the High Court in Windhoek.

The trial of former Telecom Namibia General Manager James Camm and businessmen Heinz Dresselhaus and Ettienne Weakley, who are accused of having defrauded the telecommunications parastatal through a series of corrupt scrap copper transactions between 1998 and early 2001, was scheduled to continue after a postponement of more than seven months yesterday. The trial did not resume, though, with Judge Collins Parker being told that Dresselhaus and Weakley are now intending to question the constitutionality of two sections of the Criminal Procedure Act that also came under attack in another fraud case in the High Court last month.In addition to that planned constitutional challenge, the three charged men are also still waiting for the prosecution to provide them with additional documentation that the defence first asked for during the first session of the three men’s trial in February, the Judge was told.Dresselhaus, Weakley and Camm all pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of corruption, 13 counts of fraud and six theft charges with the start of their trial on January 29.The trial was postponed on February 22, and was supposed to continue from yesterday.The one section of the Criminal Procedure Act that Dresselhaus and Weakley want to attack on constitutional grounds states that in a case in which a person is accused of making false representations – which is a central element of fraud charges – it is deemed, once it had been proven that a misrepresentation had been made, that the accused person had made that false representation while knowing that it was false.This puts a reverse onus on an accused person to prove that he or she did not know that a misrepresentation that had been made was false.The other section to be attacked states that when an offence has been committed by a corporate entity, any director or servant of the entity at the time of the offence will be deemed to be guilty of the offence, unless it is proved that he did not take part in the commission of the offence and that he could not have prevented it.Dresselhaus, Weakley and Camm are accused of having been involved in a corrupt and fraudulent scheme through which a scrap dealership owned by Dresselhaus and Weakley, Dresselhaus Scrap CC, bought scrap copper from Telecom Namibia at prices that were manipulated to be lower than the prices that were supposed to be paid for the scrap metal.It is also alleged that bribes or kickbacks totalling some N$315 550 were paid by Dresselhaus and Weakley to another former Telecom Namibia manager, Lutchmanan Ivan Ganes, between November 1998 and December 2000.Further “commissions” totalling some N$984 698 were also paid by Dresselhaus and Weakley to Ganes between April 2000 and September 2000, and these “commissions” were then shared between Ganes and the accused men, it is also charged in the indictment that the three men are facing.Weakley has admitted that he made payments totalling N$356 550,90 to Ganes.He however denied that these payments had been made with a corrupt motive.Ganes is set to continue testifying when the trial resumes.The three charged men, who remain free on bail, are scheduled to return to the High Court on February 2 next year, when an assessment will be made about the continuation of the trial.The trial has in the meantime been set down on the court roll to continue from June 8 to July 3 next year.The trial did not resume, though, with Judge Collins Parker being told that Dresselhaus and Weakley are now intending to question the constitutionality of two sections of the Criminal Procedure Act that also came under attack in another fraud case in the High Court last month.In addition to that planned constitutional challenge, the three charged men are also still waiting for the prosecution to provide them with additional documentation that the defence first asked for during the first session of the three men’s trial in February, the Judge was told.Dresselhaus, Weakley and Camm all pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of corruption, 13 counts of fraud and six theft charges with the start of their trial on January 29.The trial was postponed on February 22, and was supposed to continue from yesterday.The one section of the Criminal Procedure Act that Dresselhaus and Weakley want to attack on constitutional grounds states that in a case in which a person is accused of making false representations – which is a central element of fraud charges – it is deemed, once it had been proven that a misrepresentation had been made, that the accused person had made that false representation while knowing that it was false.This puts a reverse onus on an accused person to prove that he or she did not know that a misrepresentation that had been made was false.The other section to be attacked states that when an offence has been committed by a corporate entity, any director or servant of the entity at the time of the offence will be deemed to be guilty of the offence, unless it is proved that he did not take part in the commission of the offence and that he could not have prevented it.Dresselhaus, Weakley and Camm are accused of having been involved in a corrupt and fraudulent scheme through which a scrap dealership owned by Dresselhaus and Weakley, Dresselhaus Scrap CC, bought scrap copper from Telecom Namibia at prices that were manipulated to be lower than the prices that were supposed to be paid for the scrap metal.It is also alleged that bribes or kickbacks totalling some N$315 550 were paid by Dresselhaus and Weakley to another former Telecom Namibia manager, Lutchmanan Ivan Ganes, between November 1998 and December 2000.Further “commissions” totalling some N$984 698 were also paid by Dresselhaus and Weakley to Ganes between April 2000 and September 2000, and these “commissions” were then shared between Ganes and the accused men, it is also charged in the indictment that the three men are facing.Weakley has admitted that he made payments totalling N$356 550,90 to Ganes.He however denied that these payments had been made with a corrupt motive.Ganes is set to continue testifying when the trial resumes.The three charged men, who remain free on bail, are scheduled to return to the High Court on February 2 next year, when an assessment will be made about the continuation of the trial.The trial has in the meantime been set down on the court roll to continue from June 8 to July 3 next year.