Jail stay for graft suspects

WINDHOEK Central Prison is set to be the home of Public Service Commissioner Teckla Lameck and Chinese national Yang Fan, who were arrested this week in connection with alleged corruption involving up to N$120 million, for at least the next week and a half.

Escorted by a team of officials from the Anti-Corruption Commission, Lameck (49) and Yang (39) made a first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court late yesterday afternoon.An elegantly dressed Lameck kept her eyes hidden from view behind a pair of Bulgari sunglasses most of the time that she and her co-accused were at the court. After the proceedings were over, she collected a set of bedding and luggage from the car in which she had been transported to court, before she was handed over to the Namibian Police, who had the task of taking her and Yang to the Windhoek Central Prison, where they were ordered to be detained until their next court appearance.Lameck and Yang face six charges at this stage.These are counts of alleged fraud and bribery, and four offences under the Anti-Corruption Act: allegedly corruptly accepting gratification by an agent as a reward, corruptly giving gratification to an agent as a reward, corruptly using a false document, and failing to report corrupt transactions.The charges are connected to a contract for the supply of security scanners to the Ministry of Finance . It was awarded to a Chinese company, Nuctech Company, and was marred by alleged corruption and the payment of kickbacks to the tune of as much as a third of the contract price of some N$120 million.It is understood that after Nuctech won the contract, it was paid some US$12 million (at that stage the equivalent of about N$120 million) by the Ministry of Finance. Nuctech in turn allegedly paid about US$4 million to a Namibian close corporation, Teko Trading CC, in which Lameck and a business partner, Jerobeam Kongo Mokaxwa, allegedly have an interest.That alleged payment of US$4 million is claimed to have been a corrupt kickback. Public Prosecutor Carol-Ann Esterhuizen told Magistrate Claudia Claasen that the State was opposing the granting of bail to Lameck and Yang at this stage. She said the reasons for this was that it would not be in the public interest to grant bail to them now, because of the seriousness of the case and the fact that the matter involves approximately N$120 million. Esterhuizen added that the investigation of the case is ‘at a very sensitive stage’, with more arrests still to be made and more statements to be obtained as part of the investigation.She said it was feared that if released, the two accused persons might interfere with the investigations.Magistrate Claasen was further told that the prosecution and defence lawyers Edwin Coetzee, representing Lameck, and Christie Mostert, who appeared for Yang, have agreed that Lameck and Yang would return to court on July 22 for the hearing of a formal bail application.The Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Paulus Noa, told The Namibian yesterday that another person has also been arrested in connection with the case. He could be making a court appearance today.Three days before their first appearance in the dock, Yang and Lameck were also co-defendants in an application in which the Prosecutor General asked High Court Judge President Petrus Damaseb on Monday to issue a restraint order over a host of assets allegedly tainted by proceeds from the corrupted contract.The application is the first time that the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, which came into operation on May 5, has been used to target assets allegedly obtained through crime. Also sued as a co-defendant of Lameck and Yang were Nuctech and Mokaxwa.Lameck’s husband, businessman and TransNamib Board Chairman Festus Lameck, was cited as one of eight respondents in the case as well.At the request of the Prosecutor General, Judge President Damaseb issued a restraint order in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The order means that a host of assets may not be dealt with for as long as the order remains in force, which at this stage is until July 24.These assets include fixed properties, money up to the sum of US$12, 828 million that Nuctech may have in an account with the Beijing branch of the Export-Import Bank of China, and a collection of eight vehicles, including a Lexus LS 460 that Mr Lameck bough for an estimated price of close to N$1 million earlier this year.* With reporting from Denver Isaacs.werner@namibian.com.na