Namibia: Main Fraud Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

17 September 2007

Windhoek — Thirty -year -old Maxwell Spanneberg, alleged to be the mastermind behind the N$344 000 defrauding of the Social Security Commission (SSC), pleaded not guilty in the Katutura Magistrates' Court last week.

Spanneberg appeared before magistrate Helvi Shilamba and pleaded not guilty on two accounts of fraud and theft. Magistrate Shilamba postponed Spanneberg's case to November 28. He will appear together with his 63 co-accused for further investigation and pending the Prosecutor General's decision. His lawyer Jan Wessels appealed to the court for extension of his client's bail of N$15 0000, which the magistrate granted. The accused, who is charged with fraud and corruption, is a former SSC employee who worked in the Registry Division at the head office in Windhoek. It is suspected that he used the computer passwords of other staff members to lodge, process and authorise fraudulent sick leave claims. the proceeds of which he allegedly pocketed.

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