A Namibian man who allegedly operated a Ponzi scheme and defrauded 79 persons of N$4.3 million made a first appearance in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.
Sakaria Megamano Namwandi and his close corporation Asset Legacy Investment is facing 123 charges of fraud, one count of money laundering, one count of racketeering, one count of conducting banking business while not authorised and one count of conducting a Ponzi scheme. In addition, he is charged with two counts of tax evasion and two counts of failure to pay tax.
State advocate Constance Moyo informed Deputy Judge President Hosea Angula that she handed the discovery to his legal aid instructed lawyer Joseph Andreas who confirmed receipt.
The matter was then postponed to 21 July, for Andreas to complete the State’s pre-trial memorandum and file it. A pre-trial memorandum is where an accused indicates what he will dispute and what he will not. It is alleged by the State that Namwandi was the sole member of Asset Legacy Investment CC and had the duty to conduct legitimate business on behalf of the entity and facilitate reception of legitimate business funds held at various banks.
He however, the State alleges, whilst making use of the corporate entity in a fraudulent enterprise, formulated and operated a Ponzi scheme in which he, through the entity, advertised two types of investment facilities to members of the public, through face-to-face interactions and social media platforms under the guise that the…
