Staff Writer
Despite numerous announcements by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the Windhoek Observer can reveal that no action has been taken with regards to extraditing accused Fishrot connected lawyer, Marén de Klerk from South Africa.
De Klerk left the country in January after being questioned by the ACC and never returned. He is wanted by the authorities to answer questions about his alleged role in the Fishrot scandal.
It is alleged De Klerk may have syphoned funds to the tune of N$50 million from the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) through the trust account of his law firm, De Klerk, Horn and Coetzee, Inc.
According to Ministry of Justice, which is supposed to spearhead the extradition, no request has been made with the government department.
“We have not received any request for the extradition of De Klerk. Such a request must come from the Prosecutor General after she has completed the indictment and that can only be completed once the investigation is complete as we are not allowed to add any charges afterwards,” an official from the ministry said.
Sources at the Prosecutor General’s office confirmed that the extradition request has not been filed.
Contacted for comment on the matter, ACC Director General Paulus Noa said the process of extradition was not handled by his office but by the Ministry of Justice.
“Find out from the Ministry of Justice about that issue, we have liaised with the Ministry already. From our side, we don’t share information with the media regarding these matters,” he said.
Noa, however, said the commission’s investigations were still on-going and could be expanded depending on the findings, to allow those involved in one of the country’s biggest scandals to be brought to book.
“We are still busy and we can broaden the scope should we find new information. At this stage, all I can say is those that have been arrested are not the only ones [involved].”
Noah’s position is in contrast to earlier action by the anti-graft body, after it issued summons in March against South African lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi over a reported N$50,000 that was paid to him in October 2018 by Fishcor.
The lack of similar swift action against De Klerk, comes amid concerns that government is taking a laxed approach when it comes to him answering for millions of dollars paid into his law firm’s bank account by Fishcor.
De Klerk, according to media reports is a close associate and lawyer of jailed former Justice Minister Sacky Shanghala.
Shanghala was arrested alongside Former fisheries minister, Bernhard Esau, James and Tamson Hatuikulipi, Ricardo Gustavo, Pius Mwatelulo and Mike Nghipunya following reports last year that an Icelandic fishing company Samherji reportedly secured access to horse mackerel quotas in Namibia by paying bribes of around N$150 million to politicians and businessmen between 2012 and 2018.
The Fishrot gang, who had their case postponed last week, are currently facing charges ranging from money laundering, fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to commit an offence, as well as corruptly using office for gratification.
Media reports have alleged that former Samherji’s CEO and biggest shareholder Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson authorised the bribe payments.
