THE former wife of the founder of the Prowealth group of companies, Riaan Potgieter, will have to wait some four more weeks before she might hear if she will receive millions of Namibia dollars in life insurance proceeds after Potgieter's suicide - or if the policies are to be caught up in the provisions of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

A case in which the liquidator of one of the companies in the Prowealth group, Prowealth Asset Managers, is asking the High Court to halt the payment of the proceeds from five insurance policies that Potgieter maintained before his death returned to the High Court on Friday.

The case was again postponed - this time to July 24 - after Acting Judge Theo Frank told lawyers that he wanted the ever-growing case to be brought to finality.

Acting Judge Frank directed the lawyers to file any additional papers in the matter by July 17, while the last written arguments should be filed by July 23, and the case should be argued the next day.

FRAUD CLAIMS

Potgieter, who took his own life at this Windhoek home on December 8, has subsequently been accused of having set up and run a group of companies that was based on fraud and that cost investors tens of millions of Namibia dollars that they thought they were investing through Prowealth Asset Managers.

Liquidator Alwyn van Straten has claimed in an affidavit filed with the High Court that Potgieter and companies set up by him in essence stole some N$79,9 million in trust monies that Prowealth Asset Managers received from its clients.

Van Straten has been put in charge of Prowealth Asset Managers, which is in liquidation, and a sister company, Prowealth Consult, which is in provisional liquidation.

According to Van Straten, a preliminary investigation of Prowealth Asset Managers' affairs has shown that Potgieter had over N$18,3 million transferred from an account of Prowealth Asset Managers, where investors money had been paid into, to an account of Prowealth Consult.

Potgieter also transferred at least N$20 million of the money investors paid to Prowealth Asset Managers to bank accounts in his own name, Van Straten has informed the court.

Van Straten also claimed that Potgieter used Prowealth clients' money to pay premiums on insurance policies from which proceeds totalling about N$17,78 million are to be paid out after his death.

Since instituting the legal action through which he was trying to stop the payment of policy proceeds to Potgieter's former wife, Louise Potgieter, Van Straten and lawyers representing Mrs Potgieter have reached an agreement in terms of which four of these policies were to be paid out to Mrs Potgieter's lawyer, Francois Erasmus.

The proceeds from these policies would total some N$15,65 million.

It was further agreed that Erasmus would deposit some N$1,358 million into an investment account on behalf of Mrs Potgieter. This money would have been made up of the premiums that were paid on three of the policies, as well as half of the proceeds from another of the policies.

Van Straten would have had to agree that the money could be withdrawn from that investment account, or a court order directing the withdrawal would have had to be given, before the money was to be withdrawn, it was agreed in the deal reached between Van Straten and Mrs Potgieter's legal team.

OBJECTIONS

The agreement has in effect been suspended, though, after the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) objected to the payment of the policy proceeds to Mrs Potgieter along the lines of the agreement.

In an additional affidavit filed with the High Court, Van Straten is now asking the court to rule on whether the settlement agreement between him and Mrs Potgieter is valid, or if it is contrary to the Prevention of Organised Crime Act of 2004.

In another additional affidavit filed with the High Court on Friday, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Namfisa, Lily Brandt, charges that Potgieter's policies "were maintained from the proceeds of criminal activities".

Brandt charges that Potgieter - who enjoyed a high-flying lifestyle in the years up to his death - "did not earn a legitimate salary to maintain his standard of living".

Brandt also states that the premiums on Potgieter's policies were paid from funds that belonged to investors who invested their money with Prowealth Asset Managers.

According to Brandt, an investigation of Potgieter's bank accounts has so far shown that the account from which his policy premiums were paid "was at all times, except for only a few short periods, in overdraft".

The account was brought within its overdraft limit through bank transfers from an account of Prowealth Asset Managers, she informed the court.

Brandt claims that as a result of this it is clear that the policy premiums were paid with misappropriated funds, and the policy proceeds therefore fall within the ambit of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

The agreement reached between the liquidator and Mrs Potgieter is an attempt to prejudice the wider body of creditors of Prowealth Asset Managers - that is, the investors who might lose millions of Namibia dollars that they entrusted to Potgieter and his company - to the advantage of one potential creditor, Brandt also charges.

In another document now filed with the court, auditor Richard Theron, who is involved in a forensic audit of the finances of Prowealth Asset Managers and Potgieter, has informed the court that policy premiums totalling N$320 470 were paid from a personal account of Potgieter. The overdraft on that account "was in some instances reduced by transfers from Prowealth Asset Managers", the court was informed.