The High Court has ordered two former GIPF employees to repay over N$18 million after uncovering a sophisticated fraud scheme involving suspended child annuitant benefits.
Staff Reporter HIGH Court judge Thomas Masuku has ruled in favour of the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF), ordering two former employees who are accused of defrauding the institution to pay back an amount of N$18.6 million, which they are said to have embezzled via an illegal scheme.. Delivering the judgment, the judge ordered the payment of an amount of N$18,664,657.59, one paying and the other absolved together with interest thereon at the rate of
20% per annum, calculated from the date of judgment to the date of final payment, as well as costs of suit.. According to court documents, the defendants, namely Martin Eugen Smith and Vabiola Aoses, devised a scheme targeting suspended child annuitant benefits.. These were annuities payable to children of deceased members of GIPF, suspended when beneficiaries failed to provide proof of study, which was applicable to annuitants between the ages of 18–25.. Rather than ensuring
compliance with their employer’s policies and work ethics, Smith and Aoses are accused of exploiting an administrative gap during the COVID-19 pandemic.. They identified suspended annuities, created false documents, and channelled funds into fraudulent accounts, with the funds eventually making their way into their personal accounts.. On their work laptops, investigators discovered forged documents used to reactivate benefits, resulting in payments into accounts that did not belong to the annuitants.. Emails exchanged between Smith and
Aoses are said to have referred to the fraudulent scheme as the “Project,” “Deal,” and “Bio list”.. Reasons for the judgment are yet to be uploaded.. In July 2023, the Magistrates Court struck from the roll a criminal case instituted against Aoses, Smith and several others linked to the case after investigations hit a brick wall, as the investigator in the matter could not trace 18 witness statements from beneficiaries whose accounts were used to
channel the public money.. Save for a forfeiture order obtained in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act in favour of GIPF of about N$6.6 million from Smith’s bank accounts, GIPF, in a separate application, also sought to seize the pension funds of the two employees amounting to N$1.4 million.. FINALIZED: File photo for illustrative purposes only.. Photo: File
GIPF, High Court, pension fraud, Namibia, financial crime, justice, restitution