WINDHOEK - The Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Paulus Noa was at pains yesterday to explain the procedures used when they apply for search warrants and summonses to obtain access to records and bank accounts of fraud suspects.
This follows the order of Judge Christi Liebenberg last year that declared six search warrants the Anti-Corruption Commission used to search the premises of Teko Trading and Nuctech Company Limited, Nuctech Hong Kong and the Ministry of Finance and confiscate computers and documents from them was obtained illegally and thus null and void.
Judge Liebenberg found the search warrants - six in all - were not issued within the confines of the law, as they did not specify the officers that were authorised to conduct the search and seizures.
Noa explained yesterday the procedure is set out in the ACC Act and that they at all times follow the instructions to the letter of the law. However, Noa said, sometimes things fall through the cracks. He explained the ACC investigator involved in the matter used the wrong format to obtain the search warrants, but that the correct procedures were used to obtain the summonses that allowed them access to the bank accounts of former Chair of the Public Service Commission, Teckla Lameck and her equal business partner in Teko Trading, Jerobeam Kongo Mokaxwa.
Lameck, Mokaxwa and Chinese national Yang Fan are on trial on mega corruption charges involving more than US$12 million in the Windhoek High Court.
They denied guilt on the charges they face at the start of their new trial after three judges of the Supreme Court upheld their suspicion of bias against the judge that presided over their original trial, Maphios Cheda and removed him from the trial and replaced him with Judge Liebenberg.
It is alleged that Lameck, Fan and Mokaxwa duped government through the Ministry of Finance to pay an inflated price of US$55 348 800 for scanners to be used at airports and border posts.
In fact, the state alleges, the price was inflated with an amount of US$12 828 800 meant as ‘commission’ for Teko Trading who facilitated the transaction.
Lameck and Mokaxwa alone faces charges that they, while Mokaxwa was employed there and Lameck was the board chairman of Swapo owned company, Namib Contract Haulage, duped the company into buying them four tipper trucks valued at US$144 000.
The other charges - Lameck faces 18, Mokaxwa 12 and Fan 6 - relates to transgressions of the Immigration Control Act, the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and further contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act.
The two Namibians and the Chinese national were arrested on July 8 and 9, 2009 in Windhoek.
Lameck and Mokaxwa are currently free on bail of N$ 50 000.00 each and Yang on bail of N$1 million dollars.
The state is represented by Advocate Dominic Lisulo assisted by Advocate Constance Moyo and the accused by Sisa Namandje. The trial continues.