A Windhoek-based fraud suspect, arrested with two other persons in March 2018 for the alleged fraudulent sale of a house in the capital, has not yet secured legal representation. On Thursday, August Maletzky made another appearance before High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg and informed the court that the Justice Ministry’s Directorate of Legal Aid has not instructed a defence lawyer to represent him when trial proper begins. However, an agreement was reached in court by Maletzky and officials from the Directorate of Legal Aid for the accused to be represented by one of the directorate’s in-house defence lawyers. The matter was, thereafter, postponed to 18 February 2021 to allow the Directorate of Legal Aid enough time to appoint and instruct the defence lawyer for Maletzky. In addition, the court has also directed State Advocate Joseph Andreas to provide Maletzky with all the copies of the case’s pre-trial conferences, which the accused has not received so far. Maletzky is charged in the matter alongside prominent defence lawyer Titus Mbaeva and Windhoek resident Simon Edward Afrikaner. It is alleged that Mbaeva conspired with Maletzky and Afrikaner to defraud an elderly Angolan couple by forging power of attorney documentation, through which they sold the house for N$2,5 million and pocketed the proceeds. A summary of substantial facts contained in the charge sheet has it that the forged documents allegedly gave the three men the legal rights to dispose of the Angolan couple’s home in Windhoek West. The trio denied the allegations when they entered preliminary not guilty pleas to the fraud charges against them in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on 20 July 2018. It is alleged that the three fraudulently sold the house worth N$2,5 million without the couple’s knowledge or permission to do so and failed to hand over the funds to the homeowners. In addition, it is alleged that Maletzky was living in the aforesaid house on a lease agreement before it was sold off. The three were arrested in March 2018 following an Anti-Corruption Commission investigation into the alleged illegal sale of the house. Mbaeva, Maletzky and Afrikaner are each free on a warning. Windhoek-based defence lawyers Kalundu Kamwi and Trevor Brockerhoff are representing Mbaeva and Afrikaner. -NAMPA