The Chinese stays in the news in Namibia these days... if it's not elephant tusks, rhino horn or poached rhino's, then it's scam!
CHINESE businessman Jack Huang, who was arrested on Wednesday on charges linked to a massive alleged customs duties and foreign currency scam involving the equivalent of about N$3,5 billion, was granted bail in an amount of N$1 million yesterday.
Huang (49) – a self-described friend of President Hage Geingob and also a business partner of the President in a property development company – was granted bail when he made a first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court following his arrest at Hosea Kutako International Airport, from where he was due to take a flight to Luanda.
His release on bail has a set of conditions attached – that he has to report once a week at the Windhoek Police Station, or at the nearest police station if he is not in the city, has to surrender all of his travelling documents to the police, has to get permission from the police if he wants to travel out of Namibia, and may not interfere with witnesses or the investigation of the case in which he has been charged.
Lawyer Sisa Namandje, who is representing Huang, was standing ready in the Windhoek High Court with an urgent application in which the court was to be asked to order Huang's immediate release from custody yesterday morning, before he and government lawyers and a public prosecutor working with the customs scam case agreed that bail was to be granted to Huang on his first court appearance.
Huang has now become the fifth accused in a case in which a Walvis Bay-based businessman, Laurensius Julius, and three other Chinese citizens were already facing charges of fraud and money laundering.
The charges are based on allegations that false or manipulated import documentation had been used to send an immense amount of money out of Namibia – mostly to China – since 2013, and that the value of goods imported into Namibia was underdeclared to the customs authorities in order to evade the payment of customs duties.
The bank accounts of two companies of which Julius is the sole shareholder have been used by Chinese-owned businesses based mostly at Oshikango to send the equivalent of about N$3,5 billion out of Namibia from 2013 to last year, a forensic accountant who was asked by the Bank of Namibia to investigate the suspicious flow of foreign currency out of the country testified during a bail hearing in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court last month.
Huang is registered as a member of a close corporation, Golden Phoenix CC, which was one of more than 110 businesses that used the services of Julius' companies Extreme Customs Clearing Services (XCCS) and Organise Freight Services to import goods into Namibia, and also used the companies' bank accounts to have money sent out of Namibia, supposedly to pay the suppliers of the imported goods.
Investigating forensic accountant Roy Waligora has stated in an affidavit that it has so far been established that there were material differences between invoices presented to the customs authorities for the calculation and payment of customs duties on goods imported with the help of Julius' companies, and invoices submitted to Nedbank Namibia to have payments made to the suppliers of the goods.
In a sample of 176 transactions investigated, the total cost of imported goods reflected on invoices presented to the customs authorities was about US$891 000 (calculated as the equivalent of about N$10,08 million), while the total amount on invoices presented to Nedbank Namibia was US$66,9 million (about N$760 million), Waligora said in his sworn statement.
He also recorded that the investigation has so far shown that Golden Phoenix has sent more than US$12,3 million out of Namibia through the bank accounts of XCCS and Organise Freight Services. However, the value of those goods that was declared to the customs authorities was only about US$705 000.
Waligora also stated it appeared that goods were being underdeclared in terms of value, or there was a significant overpayment to foreign suppliers, which was a sign that capital flight was taking place.
Huang and the other four accused in the case have to appear in court again on 16 February.
After spending a month in police custody, Julius and Chinese citizens Tao Huizhong and Huang Jinrong were granted bail in an amount of N$1,5 million each on 23 January. A co-accused, Zhu Honggang, was granted bail of N$500 000 in the Ondangwa Magistrate's Court on 22 December last year.
Source: The Namibian
CHINESE businessman Jack Huang, who was arrested on Wednesday on charges linked to a massive alleged customs duties and foreign currency scam involving the equivalent of about N$3,5 billion, was granted bail in an amount of N$1 million yesterday.
Huang (49) – a self-described friend of President Hage Geingob and also a business partner of the President in a property development company – was granted bail when he made a first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court following his arrest at Hosea Kutako International Airport, from where he was due to take a flight to Luanda.
His release on bail has a set of conditions attached – that he has to report once a week at the Windhoek Police Station, or at the nearest police station if he is not in the city, has to surrender all of his travelling documents to the police, has to get permission from the police if he wants to travel out of Namibia, and may not interfere with witnesses or the investigation of the case in which he has been charged.
Lawyer Sisa Namandje, who is representing Huang, was standing ready in the Windhoek High Court with an urgent application in which the court was to be asked to order Huang's immediate release from custody yesterday morning, before he and government lawyers and a public prosecutor working with the customs scam case agreed that bail was to be granted to Huang on his first court appearance.
Huang has now become the fifth accused in a case in which a Walvis Bay-based businessman, Laurensius Julius, and three other Chinese citizens were already facing charges of fraud and money laundering.
The charges are based on allegations that false or manipulated import documentation had been used to send an immense amount of money out of Namibia – mostly to China – since 2013, and that the value of goods imported into Namibia was underdeclared to the customs authorities in order to evade the payment of customs duties.
The bank accounts of two companies of which Julius is the sole shareholder have been used by Chinese-owned businesses based mostly at Oshikango to send the equivalent of about N$3,5 billion out of Namibia from 2013 to last year, a forensic accountant who was asked by the Bank of Namibia to investigate the suspicious flow of foreign currency out of the country testified during a bail hearing in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court last month.
Huang is registered as a member of a close corporation, Golden Phoenix CC, which was one of more than 110 businesses that used the services of Julius' companies Extreme Customs Clearing Services (XCCS) and Organise Freight Services to import goods into Namibia, and also used the companies' bank accounts to have money sent out of Namibia, supposedly to pay the suppliers of the imported goods.
Investigating forensic accountant Roy Waligora has stated in an affidavit that it has so far been established that there were material differences between invoices presented to the customs authorities for the calculation and payment of customs duties on goods imported with the help of Julius' companies, and invoices submitted to Nedbank Namibia to have payments made to the suppliers of the goods.
In a sample of 176 transactions investigated, the total cost of imported goods reflected on invoices presented to the customs authorities was about US$891 000 (calculated as the equivalent of about N$10,08 million), while the total amount on invoices presented to Nedbank Namibia was US$66,9 million (about N$760 million), Waligora said in his sworn statement.
He also recorded that the investigation has so far shown that Golden Phoenix has sent more than US$12,3 million out of Namibia through the bank accounts of XCCS and Organise Freight Services. However, the value of those goods that was declared to the customs authorities was only about US$705 000.
Waligora also stated it appeared that goods were being underdeclared in terms of value, or there was a significant overpayment to foreign suppliers, which was a sign that capital flight was taking place.
Huang and the other four accused in the case have to appear in court again on 16 February.
After spending a month in police custody, Julius and Chinese citizens Tao Huizhong and Huang Jinrong were granted bail in an amount of N$1,5 million each on 23 January. A co-accused, Zhu Honggang, was granted bail of N$500 000 in the Ondangwa Magistrate's Court on 22 December last year.
Source: The Namibian
