SME Bank liquidators David Bruni and Ian McLaren continue legal action against defaulters in an attempt to recover money from the loans that were given out from the bank.
It was recently reported that the liquidators are suing Development Bank of Namibia’s board chairperson, Tania Hangula and civil servant Esau Mbako for N$7,4 million allegedly stolen from the bank.
Hangula, who is a businesswoman, is said to have received N$6,4 million allegedly originating from the bank that did not even live beyond its infant stages.
Mbako said he got a N$970 000 loan directly from fraud-accused Enoch Kamushinda. Kamushinda can be considered to be one of the central characters in the loss of taxpayers money through SME.
We managed to speak to one of the businesses that the liquidators recently also advertised the sale in execution of property belonging to Max Media Conglomerate cc.
Owner of the business, Max Hamata confirmed the advertising of his property and said that he found himself in this position after he defaulted on some of the instalments on his loans.
Hamata said that his business was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, same as many media houses.
“We employ 78 people and I made a decision to not send any of my employees home. The onus is on us as responsible Namibian citizens to make decisions in the best interest of our people,” Hamata said.
He added that he had to sacrifice servicing some of the loans so that he could pay the salaries of all his employees.
This sacrifice, Hamata said, led to his property being advertised to be executed.
Hamata said that he went as far as applying for COVID 19 relief from the Bank of Namibia to make sure he does not cut any jobs.
He also said that he is in the process of making arrangements to save his property.
The liquidators previously told this reporter that the liquidation process may take a long time, because of the complex nature of the matters concerning the defunct bank.
As part of the liquidations, they were authorised to pay out up to N$25 000 to each creditor at the date of the bank’s liquidation and as indicated in the creditor’s bank statement on 11 July 2017.
The shareholders of the inoperative SME Bank are Namibia Financing Trust (Pty) Ltd, representing the Namibian government which holds 65% of the shares, Metropolitan Bank of Zimbabwe 35%, and World Eagle Investments 5%.
