Lawsuit against Samherji subsidiary

Windhoek lawyer Norman Tjombe has taken the subsidiary of Icelandic fishing company Samherji to court in an attempt to get compensation for its former employees.

Tjombe yesterday filed a case against Esja Investment, which was appointed as manager of ArcticNam Fishing, over reckless and negligent trading.

ArcticNam was established in 2013 by the Icelandic firm Samherji HF and a Namibian group of fishing quota beneficiaries, including Sinco Fishing, Epango Fishing, and Yukor.

In 2021, ArcticNam was fined N$1,8 million by the Office of the Labour Commissioner at Walvis Bay to compensate 23 Namibian fishermen who were retrenched in 2018.

This amount is yet to be paid.

On Wednesday, 20 out of the 23 workers met with Tjombe in Windhoek to devise a plan for obtaining compensation from the workers’ former employer, Esja Investment.

According to the court documents, the fishermen claim they are creditors of ArcticNam and that Esja Investment and managing director Egill Helgi Arnason knowingly engaged in reckless or fraudulent activities related to the company’s business operations with the intent to defraud creditors, including the plaintiffs.

They further allege that significant amounts of money were unlawfully transferred out of the country in a scheme designed to defraud various entities, including the Namibian State, the Namibia Revenue Agency, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, and ArcticNam’s creditors.

This has ultimately left ArcticNam without sufficient funds to pay the fishermen and other creditors.

The fishermen also allege that the company wrongfully terminated their employment with ArcticNam on 31 December, 2018, in an attempt to avoid remunerating them.

They also allege that Esja used ArcticNam’s resources to bribe public officials.

For failing to make payment of the arbitral award against ArcticNam within a reasonable time or not making the payment at all, the defendants further face an accumulation of interest at a rate of 20% per annum from 24 June, 2021.

The interest has accumulated to N$1 million to date.

Two days before the arbitral award, Samherji chief executive Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson apologised for the company’s dealings in Namibia.

“As Samherji’s top executive, I am responsible for allowing the business practices in Namibia to take place. It has upset our staff, friends, families, business partners, customers, and others in our community.

“I am very sorry that this happened, and I sincerely apologise to all those involved – both personally and on behalf of the company.

“Now it’s important to ensure that nothing like this happens again. We will certainly strive for that,” he said.

Tjombe asked prosecutor general Martha Imalwa to release funds from the sale of the MV Heinaste vessel, which was sold to Tunacor two years ago.

“We are informed that the prosecutor general, acting in terms of her powers under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca) obtained a restraining order against a number of persons and corporate entities,” he said. Tjombe asked whether the restraining order obtained by the prosecutor general includes money and/or other assets belonging to Esja. If this is the case, the fishermen, according to Tjombe, intend to submit the claim of the unsatisfied judgement against the assets or money of Esja in terms of the Poca.

The prosecutor general did not respond to messages or phone calls from The Namibian yesterday. Imalwa is also involved in a case in the Windhoek High Court in which she applied to obtain authorisation from the Cabinet for the upkeep of the properties of the Fishrot accused and their business entities. Tjombe earlier this week tried to reach the local directors of the company, Virgilio de Sousa, Wycliff Williams and Tjiunomuinjo Kandanga.

“They were not reachable,” he said.

Neither Williams nor De Sousa responded to calls or messages via WhatsApp this week.