Fishrot liquidators ‘working against their will’

There are fears that escalating hostility between the liquidators tasked to manage the assets of the Fishrot accused persons and Prosecutor-General Martha Imalwa could place the assets under their care in jeopardy.

The assets – worth millions - range from houses, cars and jewellery to farms and livestock, amongst other things.

The Fishrot accused persons have continued to languish in custody since 2019 for their alleged involvement in the fishing scandal through which the country lost over N$150 million.

The liquidators, David Bruni and Ian McLaren, hinted in court papers filed in the High Court recently that they are being forced to work against their will and revealed that there exists hostility between themselves and Imalwa after they indicated that they do not want to continue as liquidators on this matter any more.

‘Obstructive’

Since their appointment as liquidators in December 2020, Bruni and McLaren have not been paid a cent for work done so far. This was confirmed by Imalwa yesterday.

Last year, the duo asked to be relieved from their duties citing lack of capacity, but almost two years later, they are still going back and forth with the prosecutor-general (PG), whom they accused of being obstructive.

“The hostility between the applicants and the PG is apparent. In her earlier heads of argument, the PG has gone as far as accusing the applicants of contempt of court in circumstances where their respective interpretations of the order differ from one another. The applicants in turn contend that the PG is obstructive,” the duo said in court papers.

They further stated: “The court is not a slave-master who may force persons to work against their will".

Pay us

Bruni and McLaren also accused government of failing to honour its promise that they would be paid from the Criminal Assets Recovery Fund, which is funded with money derived from confiscated proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA).

The duo also lamented that, at this late stage, there is no clarity as to whether an arrangement with the justice ministry to pay their expenses - such as valuation costs, security costs and other costs - would be approved by the State.

They also claimed that some of the accused persons continue to ignore requests to disclose their assets.

The justice ministry recently submitted a request to Cabinet to deliberate the availability of funds for the administration of the properties by the curators, which are not ordinarily covered by the estate.

Ministry executive director Gladys Pickering yesterday told Namibian Sun that the matter would be discussed by Cabinet tomorrow.

Complex case

Imalwa described the Fishrot case as a “complex” one because some of the assets might be outside Namibia and the curators must track those assets.

“There is an interim amount that should be taken from the Criminal Assets Recovery Fund and they will be paid based on when they are presenting their invoices that indicate what they have done.

“I am not involved, the State has to pay the curators. The Criminal Assets Recovery Fund committee has to then prepare a request to Cabinet to release money and that money remains in the fund if it is approved.

“The accounting officer of the fund then pays the curator from that fund. We are not run by Cabinet as people are saying,” Imalwa explained.

Lack of capacity

In their supplementary report filed on 27 July, the liquidators said much of the PG’s argument in an earlier court session was aimed at fingering them for contempt of court.

Bruni and McLaren highlighted that before they took on this job, they were informed that the justice ministry has a fund from which their costs and expenses would be settled, adding that they filed their first report with the Master of the High Court, Elsie Beukes, on 14 April 2021.

In this report, they pointed out that the lawyers of the majority of the Fishrot accused failed to disclose their assets. After receiving asset declarations on 15 and 16 December 2021, they then informed Beukes that they no longer had the capacity to administer the assets and wanted to quit.

After filing an application to be relieved of their duties, the PG requested that the liquidators provide a proper report of the work they have done so far in order to ease the handover to a new curator in the event that Bruni and McLaren are successful in their application.

The duo’s legal representatives pointed out that it is not disputed that they lack the capacity to continue the administration of the restrained assets and that neither Imalwa nor the Fishrot accused have opposed their application to be relieved.

They also stated that the PG’s sole objection was that they should not be removed until such a time that they deliver a report that indicates the status of the assets they collected.

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