‘For the sake of my children, Lord’

JEMIMA BEUKESWINDHOEKFishrot accused Ricardo Gustavo yesterday pleaded to be released on bail on various grounds, including that he needs to attend to his children and prepare thoroughly for the trial in what is arguably the country’s biggest corruption scandal yet.The articulate former Investec executive, who the State charges was in charge of fishing company Namgomar Pesca (Namibia), which allegedly received N$38 million from controversial Icelandic company Samherji, of which N$31 million apparently ended up in the pockets of his Fishrot co-accused, argued that the State has an unfair advantage.“I feel like a boxer in the ring with one arm tied to the back while the opposition has both arms – while expecting to fight a fair fight,” he told High Court Judge Herman Oosthuizen.He denied any wrongdoing, saying anything that happened at Namgomar’s Namibian operations was beyond reproach.The notion that he and his accused had cooked up something through the fishing agreement between the Angolan and Namibian governments was a fallacy, he claimed.Gustavo also denied owning of Namgomar Pesca Namibia – of which he is registered as the sole director. According to him, he was ‘purely’ an employee of the entity.Prosecutors in August charged that Namgomar benefited from being allocated fish quotas and from the payments it received from the catching agreement with Samherji.SchemeProsecutor-general Martha Imalwa said some Fishrot accused devised a scheme which would allow Samherji to apply for fishing licences for its vessels to enable Samherji to catch all the fish quotas that were allocated to Namgomar.According to her, Namgomar was granted a fishing concession in Namibia for horse mackerel and agreed to grant this fishing right to Esja Holdings to catch its horse mackerel quota.Esja Holdings eventually commercially exploited Namgomar’s horse mackerel quota for the duration of the agreement until 31 December 2023 and agreed to pay them a usage fee of N$500 per tonne of horse mackerel caught.She added that former fisheries minister Bernard Esau, also under this purported agreement, allocated a 50 000-tonne horse mackerel quota to Namgomar between 2014 and 2019.Given the market value of one tonne of horse mackerel during this period, Namgomar unlawfully received at least N$547 million.Gustavo yesterday said there was no truth in the claim that the fisheries agreement between Namibia and Angola was the brainchild of himself and former fisheries minister Bernhard Esau.Gustavo also claimed that there was nothing untoward about these agreements, which were in fact pioneered in 2007 by Esau’s predecessor, the late Abraham Iyambo.In fact, according to him, the fisheries agreements were not new to Namibia and had been signed as far back as before 1990, pointing out that the Namibia-Angola fisheries agreement was signed in October 2007 and known as the Protocol on Fisheries and expired in October 2012.According to Gustavo, the two governments renewed the co-operation framework and a new agreement or memorandum of understanding (MoU) was then concluded on 18 June 2014. This MoU was signed by former fisheries minister Bernard Esau and his Angolan counterpart, Victória de Barros Neto.“The purpose of this was for the two countries via their respective fisheries ministries to cooperate in various areas of mutual benefit. The signatories to this agreement were fisheries ministers – Namibia was Abraham Iyambo and Angola was signed by the then minister of Angola,” he said.Asked whether President Hage Geingob or his Angolan counterpart had ratified this agreement, Gustavo responded that the MoU was gazetted in Namibia and Angola.According to Gustavo, a catch agreement existed between Esja Investments, Mermaria Seafood and Esja Holding, which were catching on behalf of Namgomar Pesca Limitada.“The first quota, I believe [Limitada] and I am speaking under correction, I would not have the correct date but I think it would be somewhere in July 2014,” the told the court.He told the court that Namgomar Pesca Limitada received 7 000 tonnes under the Namibia-Angolan fisheries agreement.Flight riskThe State firmly objects to bail for Gustavo based on the serious nature of offence and that it is in the public interest not to be granted bail and also argues that there is a risk of abscondment and that he may tamper with the witnesses or the case.However, Gustavo insists his ties with Namibia are strong and no reason exists for him to go on the run from Namibia.He also informed the court that he has lived in Namibia all his life and that his five children, parents, siblings and rest of his family live in Windhoek.Gustavo told the court that he was more than willing to report to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) as often as required and added that his home in Finckenstein estate, which is bonded, will be available to him once he is out on bail.jemima@namibiansun.com

‘For the sake of my children, Lord’

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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‘For the sake of my children, Lord’

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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