Komatsu accountant convicted with three others over N$4.4m fraud

A High Court judgment has laid bare how more than N$4.4 million was siphoned from Komatsu through fake invoices, non-existent suppliers and a network of personal bank accounts.

Komatsu is a manufacturer and supplier of earthmoving machinery for the construction and mining industries.

Acting High Court judge Petrus Unengu last Thursday convicted financial accountant Tulihaleni Nghihalwa, a former Komatsu employee, and her three co-accused on dozens of counts of fraud and money laundering.

The convictions bring to a close a case centred on 75 suspicious transactions processed between January 2014 and May 2016.

Nghihalwa, who was stationed at the company’s Swakopmund office at the time, was found to have generated fraudulent payment requisitions for goods and services that were never delivered.

The court found that the payments, totalling N$4 481 511.84, were approved and paid out by Komatsu’s South African head office.

However, instead of reaching legitimate suppliers, the funds were diverted into bank accounts controlled by Nghihalwa and her co-accused — her brother, Tulihafeni Nghihalwa, her cousin, Johanna Jona, and businesswoman Pauline Ganes.

The scheme began to unravel after a suspicious payment requisition prompted an internal audit at Komatsu’s head office.

The scope of the audit subsequently expanded, leading investigators to trace all 75 questionable transactions to a single user profile belonging to Tulihaleni Nghihalwa.

During a meeting with internal auditors, she admitted her involvement in the transactions and signed an acknowledgement of debt, a factor that later weighed significantly against her in court.

Fake suppliers, real money

Evidence before court showed that several of the listed “suppliers” did not exist and were not registered with the Business and Intellectual Property Authority.

Despite this, payments were processed and channelled into accounts belonging to Tulihaleni, her brother Tulihafeni, her cousin and, later, into an account linked to Ganes.

The court found that the movement of funds between these accounts, often in quick succession, was aimed at disguising the origin of the money.

Defence dismissed

In her defence, Nghihalwa, represented by Mbanga Siyomunji, claimed she had been instructed by senior company officials to create a scheme to generate funds to bribe officials at the receiver of revenue in order to eliminate the company’s VAT debt.

She further alleged she was targeted for this role “because she was black”.

However, the court rejected this version, noting that those implicated denied giving such instructions and that it was highly improbable that a company would entrust a single employee with millions of dollars to run an unlawful operation without supervision.

Nghihalwa’s co-accused – Jona and Tulihafeni – claimed they were unaware their bank accounts were being used, saying they were students at the time and did not actively manage the accounts.

However, the court found their explanations implausible and concluded that the accounts were deliberately used to channel and conceal the funds.

Ganes, who received substantial payments, claimed the money related to livestock sales, including cattle transactions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

That version was also rejected, with the court finding inconsistencies and exaggerations in her testimony.

Accused ‘not honest’

State witnesses, including company officials and bank employees, were described as credible and consistent, while the accused were reportedly found to have been dishonest and to have attempted to mislead the court.

“They lied… covering up for one another," the judgment reads.

Nghihalwa was convicted on all 75 counts of fraud, as well as multiple counts of money laundering.

Her co-accused were also convicted on various money laundering charges, with Ganes additionally found guilty of acquiring and using proceeds of unlawful activities.

The case has been postponed to 29 May for a pre-sentencing hearing.

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