Case against fraud accused ‘hopelessly weak’

The three people accused of having defrauded Namibia’s Ministry of Finance through a multimillion-dollar transaction in which the government bought Chinese-made security scanners at inflated prices in 2009 are calling for their acquittal. The Namibian reports that former Public Service Commission member Teckla Lameck and her business partner Kongo Mokaxwa purchased X-ray scanning equipment at a cost of US$55.3m from a Chinese company, Nuctech, which was represented by Chinese national Yang Fan in 2009. Defence lawyer Sisa Namandje, who is representing the accused in the Windhoek High Court, asked Judge Christie Liebenberg to find the suspects not guilty on all of the charges after the state closed its case. Deputy Prosecutor-General Dominic Lisulo earlier attempted to have the trial postponed to give the state more time to attempt to trace four witnesses in China, and to arrange to have former President Hifikepunye Pohamba called as a witness. ‘The state's case is hopelessly weak,’ Namandje said. The hearing continues.