Accountant gets 12 years for N$4.4m Komatsu fraud

The Windhoek High Court yesterday sentenced Tulihaleni Nghihalwa (38) to 12 years’ imprisonment and fined her N$20 000 for her role in a N$4.4 million fraud scheme that targeted mining equipment supplier Komatsu.

The scheme involved fraudulent invoices, fictitious suppliers and the transfer of company funds into a network of personal bank accounts.

The case centred on 75 fraudulent transactions processed between January 2014 and May 2016 while Nghihalwa was employed as an accountant at Komatsu’s Swakopmund branch.

Acting judge Petrus Unengu also fined Nghihalwa’s brother and co-accused, Tulihafeni Nghihalwa (28), who is a student at the Namibia Institute of Technology (NIT), N$20 000.

The siblings' cousin, Johanna Jona (32), was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined N$20 000. Jona, together with Tulihafeni and fourth accused Pauline Ganes, controlled bank accounts into which the stolen money was transferred. Jona is a mother of two children aged five and three.

Ganes was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined N$30 000.

All four accused were represented by lawyer Mbanga Siyomunji.

A trail of deception

The court previously found that more than N$4.4 million was siphoned from Komatsu through fake payment requisitions for goods and services that were never delivered.

The fraudulent payments were approved by Komatsu’s South African head office before being diverted into accounts controlled by the accused.

The scheme was uncovered after a suspicious payment triggered an internal audit, which traced all 75 questionable transactions to a user profile linked to Tulihaleni.

During the investigation, Tulihaleni admitted her involvement in the transactions and signed an acknowledgement of debt, which the court considered during the proceedings.

The court, however, found that her claim that senior company officials had instructed her to create a scheme to generate funds to bribe officials at the receiver of revenue was not credible.

The court also rejected explanations by her co-accused that they were unaware their bank accounts were being used to channel the funds, finding that the accounts were deliberately used to conceal the movement of the money.

No remorse

In sentencing, Unengu said Nghihalwa had abused the trust placed in her by her employer and showed no genuine remorse for her actions.

The judge agreed with the State’s submission that there was nothing to suggest she would have stopped the fraudulent conduct had it not been discovered.

Addressing her co-accused, the judge also stressed that those who align themselves with criminal conduct inevitably expose themselves to the same legal consequences as those who orchestrate the crimes.

Unengu, quoting another court judgment, said: “If you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.”

The judge also took into account that Nghihalwa, a mother of two children aged 14 and seven, had spent six months in custody before being released on bail.

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