The Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) has suspended Vabiola Aobes and Eugene Smith who are implicated in defrauding the Fund of over N$17 million.

The two are accused of forging bank confirmation letters for orphaned beneficiaries.

In a sworn statement, the Fund's manager for Annuities, Ignatius Manyando, says that he received an enquiry from the Otjiwarango regional office in July this year about a beneficiary who claimed not to have received her pension payout.

“Upon quick investigation, we discovered that her payments were indeed paid and up to date but shockingly it was paid to an account not belonging to her. The incident led us to widen our investigation to determine if there are other similar cases” Manyando’s sworn statement read.

The Fund, he says, further uncovered several fraudulent incidents where payments were made to accounts which do not belong to the rightful beneficiaries.

The investigation to establish the full extent of the loss is ongoing, but many say that the amount is likely to increase from N$17,7 million.