Warrants issued for Chinese nationals in N$3.5bn fraud case
The Windhoek High Court has issued a warrant of arrest for three Chinese nationals, Tao Huizhong, Yuiqua 'Jack' Huang and Li Dan, after they failed to appear in court for allegedly defrauding the finance ministry of N$3.5 billion in revenue.
This comes after their previous court appearance in November 2024 was conducted in absentia, with deputy judge president Hosea Angula citing the high cost of travel between Namibia and China.
The arrangement was intended to ensure the participation of the accused Chinese nationals, who currently reside in China; however, three of the seven failed to appear.
The group, which includes a Namibian national, are collectively facing 1 583 charges ranging from theft, fraud and the presentation of false documents to money laundering and a host of other financial crimes.
Judge Shafimana Ueitele has postponed the matter to 19 November for a status hearing.
The trial is scheduled to take place from January to April 2026.
'Sophisticated fraud scheme'
Among the accused is Namibian national Laurensius Julius, owner of Extreme Customs Cleaning Services (XCCS), who played a central role in what the State, represented by Henry Muhongo, alleges was a sophisticated customs and foreign exchange fraud scheme.
Between 2013 and 2016, XCCS and another company, Organise, acted as clearing agents for 105 importers, remitting over N$3.1 billion offshore, purportedly for the importation of various goods.
Julius is reported to have been the contact person on 1 743 out of 1 752 foreign remittance applications, totalling 99.5%, processed during that period.
The State also alleges that he, along with his co-accused, manipulated supporting documentation by understating the value of imported goods on customs forms, specifically the Single Administrative Document 500 (SAD 500), while allegedly simultaneously inflating freight and related charges in bank submissions to justify higher amounts in foreign remittances.
The SAD 500 is a customs declaration form used in southern African countries, including Namibia and South Africa, for both import and export transactions.
This method allegedly allowed the accused to over-remit funds abroad, sending more money than was legitimately owed for the goods under the guise of paying import costs.
Through this scheme, Julius, allegedly acting in concert with other accused individuals, including Huizhong and members of Golden Phoenix CC, is said to have defrauded the Namibian state of significant customs revenue.
The other accused persons who appeared in court are Julius, Zhihua Gao, Hongying Jia, Coa Shuhua and Ying Zhang.
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This comes after their previous court appearance in November 2024 was conducted in absentia, with deputy judge president Hosea Angula citing the high cost of travel between Namibia and China.
The arrangement was intended to ensure the participation of the accused Chinese nationals, who currently reside in China; however, three of the seven failed to appear.
The group, which includes a Namibian national, are collectively facing 1 583 charges ranging from theft, fraud and the presentation of false documents to money laundering and a host of other financial crimes.
Judge Shafimana Ueitele has postponed the matter to 19 November for a status hearing.
The trial is scheduled to take place from January to April 2026.
'Sophisticated fraud scheme'
Among the accused is Namibian national Laurensius Julius, owner of Extreme Customs Cleaning Services (XCCS), who played a central role in what the State, represented by Henry Muhongo, alleges was a sophisticated customs and foreign exchange fraud scheme.
Between 2013 and 2016, XCCS and another company, Organise, acted as clearing agents for 105 importers, remitting over N$3.1 billion offshore, purportedly for the importation of various goods.
Julius is reported to have been the contact person on 1 743 out of 1 752 foreign remittance applications, totalling 99.5%, processed during that period.
The State also alleges that he, along with his co-accused, manipulated supporting documentation by understating the value of imported goods on customs forms, specifically the Single Administrative Document 500 (SAD 500), while allegedly simultaneously inflating freight and related charges in bank submissions to justify higher amounts in foreign remittances.
The SAD 500 is a customs declaration form used in southern African countries, including Namibia and South Africa, for both import and export transactions.
This method allegedly allowed the accused to over-remit funds abroad, sending more money than was legitimately owed for the goods under the guise of paying import costs.
Through this scheme, Julius, allegedly acting in concert with other accused individuals, including Huizhong and members of Golden Phoenix CC, is said to have defrauded the Namibian state of significant customs revenue.
The other accused persons who appeared in court are Julius, Zhihua Gao, Hongying Jia, Coa Shuhua and Ying Zhang.
[email protected]
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