Gustavo wants N$1.5m from frozen money
Ink has barely dried on Gustavo’s release papers, but the Angolan-born former Investec executive is already back in court seeking access to money that was frozen by prosecutors.
JEMIMA BEUKES
WINDHOEK
A month after being released on N$800 000 bail, Fishrot accused Ricardo Gustavo is back in court to ask that he be allowed to access his frozen assets to enable him to pay his lawyers.
In their heads of arguments, Gustavo’s lawyer Brockerhoff & Associates said N$1.5 million will suffice for future legal expenses.
Gustavo told the court he has not started working yet and his income would have paid for his legal fees and preparation for his trial. He told the court during his bail application that he had been offered a job, which he will do from his home where he is confined as part of his bail conditions.
He also stated that the Prosecutor-General’s Office, which successfully froze his assets, has no idea how much he will be earning from his new job.
“The matter is regarded the biggest criminal case since independence. It requires careful scrutiny of every single document presented or filed in the criminal proceedings or Prevention of Organised Crime Act [POCA] proceedings,” Gustavo’s court papers read.
“The main POCA application comprises of no less than 7 000 pages in total, not inclusive of all the intervening applications and interlocutory applications lodged until date. The disclosure provided under the criminal proceedings comprises of 90 volumes, which shall require extensive scrutiny and consideration in preparation of [my] defence. The collective witness list for the criminal proceedings amounts to 324 witnesses and the revised indictment alone consists of 144 pages,” he said.
Not reasonable
Prosecutor-General (PG) Martha Imalwa opposed Gustavo’s application for relief from the interim constraint order on the basis that the legal expenses claimed by him are not reasonable.
In court documents, Gustavo pointed out that he is not seeking access to sustain his living expenses at this stage, but that he has no realisable assets that could be disposed of to pay for his outstanding legal costs.
He is one of 10 men implicated in the Fishrot bribery scheme in which they allegedly hijacked the governmental objectives fishing quotas aimed to alleviate poverty in Namibia and Angola for their own personal gain.
During his bail hearing last year, Gustavo told the court that his children are dependent on him, hence the urgency for him to be released on bail so he can earn an income to support them.
In his renewed application in pursuit of his assets, Gustavo said his legal fight for his innocence is now at peril as he is unable to pay his lawyers, who were last paid in January 2020.
Gustavo, a former Investec Asset Management executive, was arrested on 19 November 2019 alongside former fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau.
Hidden tax debts
According to the PG, Gustavo’s children and beneficiaries did not file affidavits in which they disclosed their interests in the properties from which the legal expenses should be drawn.
She added that Gustavo has also failed to disclose that he owed the taxman over N$7.4 million in taxes plus penalties and interest as well as an amount of N$71 269 he owes the Finkenstein Village Owners Association.
Imalwa also pointed out that Gustavo is not in compliance with the POCA law in that he has omitted disclosing interests that he or his children or beneficiaries may have some assets, and because of this non-compliance, the court should deny him access to the restrained assets.
Gustavo, however, said a balance must be struck between substantial compliance and non-compliance, since there has been substantial compliance with the objectives of his provision to be granted access to his assets.
He added that he has confirmed the assets to his disposal as well as stated that he has no further realisable assets. It is therefore incorrect to suggest that he has not fully disclosed his assets as there are no further realisable assets, he said.
[email protected]
WINDHOEK
A month after being released on N$800 000 bail, Fishrot accused Ricardo Gustavo is back in court to ask that he be allowed to access his frozen assets to enable him to pay his lawyers.
In their heads of arguments, Gustavo’s lawyer Brockerhoff & Associates said N$1.5 million will suffice for future legal expenses.
Gustavo told the court he has not started working yet and his income would have paid for his legal fees and preparation for his trial. He told the court during his bail application that he had been offered a job, which he will do from his home where he is confined as part of his bail conditions.
He also stated that the Prosecutor-General’s Office, which successfully froze his assets, has no idea how much he will be earning from his new job.
“The matter is regarded the biggest criminal case since independence. It requires careful scrutiny of every single document presented or filed in the criminal proceedings or Prevention of Organised Crime Act [POCA] proceedings,” Gustavo’s court papers read.
“The main POCA application comprises of no less than 7 000 pages in total, not inclusive of all the intervening applications and interlocutory applications lodged until date. The disclosure provided under the criminal proceedings comprises of 90 volumes, which shall require extensive scrutiny and consideration in preparation of [my] defence. The collective witness list for the criminal proceedings amounts to 324 witnesses and the revised indictment alone consists of 144 pages,” he said.
Not reasonable
Prosecutor-General (PG) Martha Imalwa opposed Gustavo’s application for relief from the interim constraint order on the basis that the legal expenses claimed by him are not reasonable.
In court documents, Gustavo pointed out that he is not seeking access to sustain his living expenses at this stage, but that he has no realisable assets that could be disposed of to pay for his outstanding legal costs.
He is one of 10 men implicated in the Fishrot bribery scheme in which they allegedly hijacked the governmental objectives fishing quotas aimed to alleviate poverty in Namibia and Angola for their own personal gain.
During his bail hearing last year, Gustavo told the court that his children are dependent on him, hence the urgency for him to be released on bail so he can earn an income to support them.
In his renewed application in pursuit of his assets, Gustavo said his legal fight for his innocence is now at peril as he is unable to pay his lawyers, who were last paid in January 2020.
Gustavo, a former Investec Asset Management executive, was arrested on 19 November 2019 alongside former fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau.
Hidden tax debts
According to the PG, Gustavo’s children and beneficiaries did not file affidavits in which they disclosed their interests in the properties from which the legal expenses should be drawn.
She added that Gustavo has also failed to disclose that he owed the taxman over N$7.4 million in taxes plus penalties and interest as well as an amount of N$71 269 he owes the Finkenstein Village Owners Association.
Imalwa also pointed out that Gustavo is not in compliance with the POCA law in that he has omitted disclosing interests that he or his children or beneficiaries may have some assets, and because of this non-compliance, the court should deny him access to the restrained assets.
Gustavo, however, said a balance must be struck between substantial compliance and non-compliance, since there has been substantial compliance with the objectives of his provision to be granted access to his assets.
He added that he has confirmed the assets to his disposal as well as stated that he has no further realisable assets. It is therefore incorrect to suggest that he has not fully disclosed his assets as there are no further realisable assets, he said.
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