Lawyer and community activist’s fraud case postponed to 19 November

WINDHOEK, 05 NOV  – The case of a prominent Windhoek defence lawyer and two other people arrested in March for the alleged fraudulent sale of a house that did not belong to them, has been postponed to 19 November 2018.

Local defence lawyer Titus Mbaeva is on trial in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court for allegedly conspiring with activist August Maletzky and Simon Edward Afrikaner to defraud an elderly Angolan couple by forging power of attorney documentation.

The trio made another appearance before Windhoek Magistrate Vanessa Stanley on Monday, when their fraud case was postponed to 19 November to allow the Office of the Prosecutor-General to pronounce itself on how to proceed with the matter.

According to Public Prosecutor Tatelo Lusepani, the prosecutor-general’s decision is expected to be made public in court on that date.
The three accused denied committing the offence when they entered pleas of not guilty to the charges against them on 20 July this year.

The forged documents purportedly gave the three accused the legal right to dispose of the couple’s home in Windhoek West.
They entered their preliminary not guilty pleas to the charges in the presence of their defence lawyers Slysken Makando and Orben Sibeya as per the provisions of Section 119 of the Criminal Procedures Act of 1977.

Mbaeva and Maletzky are free on bail of N$40 000 and N$100 000, respectively, while Afrikaner is free on bail of N$20 000.
It is alleged that the three men fraudulently sold the house worth N$2.5 million without the couple’s knowledge or permission to do so.
It is further alleged that after selling the house, they 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 illegally sold off.
The three men were arrested in March 2018 following an Anti-Corruption Commission investigation into the alleged illegal sale of the house.
(NAMPA)