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A top investigator at the Anti-Corruption Commission says he expects those implicated in the fishrot corruption scandal to serve prison sentences of not less than 25 years each if found guilty.

In his testimony, Andreas Kanyangela again cautioned against the granting of bail for any of the suspects, saying it would derail the case.

On his third day in the dock as a state witness, Kanyangela warned Judge Munsu that the suspects were plotting to flee Namibia if released on bail.

Hatukulipi, he says, allegedly raked in N$75 million for his role in the syndicate of the N$317 million illicit purse.

He told the court that it will take years to extradite if one of the suspects flees the country, and such delays will mean the judiciary will be forced to withdraw or strike the case off the roll.

Kanyangela further stated that four suspects, including Samherji bosses in Iceland and lawyer Maren de Klerk, whose law firm De Klerk, Horn and Coetzee was allegedly used to facilitate payments in the syndicate, remain at large due to a delay in extraditing them.

He also stated that Hatuikulipi may use the large sums of money he has in offshore accounts in Dubai to survive, as all his assets are seized and likely to be forfeited.

Kanyangela then retracted his version that investigations were complete in the case during his cross-examination by Hatuikulipi's defence lawyer, Richard Metcalfe.

Metcalfe also poked holes in an audit report by Deloitte and Touche, whom the anti-graft watchdog appointed as investigators to gather evidence from the devices seized from Hatuikulipi's cousin, James, and his co-accused, saying auditors did not have permission to gather such records.

Kanyangela further revealed that Hatuikilipi allegedly paid N$500 thousand from one of his companies, JTH Trading, to a company owned by Silas Mungomba, African Glass, to get himself out of prison, which had failed.

Mungomba was arrested during a sting operation for attempting to bribe an Affirmative Repositioning activist to stage a protest demanding the release of Hatuikulipi and his co-accused as they were treated unfairly by the justice system.

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Photo Credits
The Namibian

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Author
Kandjii Kaipaherue