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The Bank of Namibia has been ordered by a court to fund CBI Global.
The Bank of Namibia is the primary financial regulator in Namibia. CBI Global is a Ponzi scheme.
In March, the BoN froze Botha’s assets as part of their efforts to shut down CBI Global, which was run by serial Ponzi schemer Coenie Botha (below).
This included CBI Global, which is registered in Namibia as CBI Exchange. The majority of the assets in question were stolen from CBI Global investor funds held in Bank Windhoek accounts.
Botha attempted to thwart regulation of his Ponzi scheme by suing BoN, arguing that he had the right to defraud people. Botha obtained the right to deduct operational expenses from the frozen funds as a result of these proceedings.
Botha submitted claims exceeding $62,150, the majority of which would be laundered through the law firm of Afrika Jantjies.
Afrika Jantjies (right) was introduced to CBI Global investors.
He presented himself as the attorney and compliance officer for CBI Global.
“We are the legal counsel for CBI. In addition, I am the compliance officer at CBI Exchange Namibia. If something is illegal or not in accordance with the law, it is my responsibility to advise my client to desist, cease, and comply. Upon discovering that CBI Global was a Ponzi scheme, Jantjies’s role quickly shifted to that of a partner.”
Botha’s inflated expenses prompted BoN to respond negatively.
“The legal fees are not considered necessary day-to-day expenditures, and they also appear excessive. Combined with the retainer, it would indicate that the entire month is devoted to (CBI Global’s) legal work. Assuming a combined hourly rate of N$5000 for Mr. Jantjies and instructed counsel for the month of April 2022, they each spent approximately 6 hours per day, Monday through Friday, on (CBI Global’s) legal work (including the holidays). Among the expenses is what is referred to as the “third and final remaining retainer” for the VASP application to FIC, which is somewhat concerning. This is a Financial Intelligence Centre application.”
I spoke with the FIC regarding the price of such a registration. Mr. Kristian Hamutenya, who is the Deputy Director of Compliance at the FIC and handles these applications, has assured me that no registration fee is required. He added that the registration process is so straightforward that even tiny real estate firms, churches, second-hand product merchants, and other non-profit organizations have registered without the assistance of a consultant. Therefore, the application did not need to hire a consultant, and certainly not at a cost of N $559,574.40. This expense cannot be deemed an essential business expense.
CBI Global pushed the case through the legal system, leading to the July 7 ruling by the High Court of Namibia.
The court chose to ignore the clear attempt to launder stolen investor funds and dodge efforts to regulate CBI Global.
The (Bank of Namibia and Bank Windhoek Limited) must release payments/funds from (CBI Global’s) bank account that are required for the daily operation of (CBI Global’s) business. The (Bank of Namibia and Bank Windhoek Limited) are required to cover CBI Global’s expenses. The matter is resolved and removed from consideration.
The Bank of Namibia’s evidence about exaggerated and unjustified stated expenses was disregarded. The court stated it cannot impose an injunction prohibiting (the Bank of Namibia and Bank Windhoek Limited) from applying reasonable conditions for the funds to be released, in this case requiring (CBI Global) to provide the necessary documentation to support the expenses.
The court essentially barred the Bank of Namibia, Namibia’s main financial regulator, from challenging CBI Global’s alleged expenses.
If it sounds completely ludicrous, that’s because it is.
I believe the most significant issue in this case is that the court did not acknowledge the reason for the asset freezing.
(CBI Global) asserts that its operational and financial conditions are catastrophic.
“To mitigate the catastrophic impact of a complete account freeze on the applicant, the court issued an order for the payment of required day-to-day business expenses while the Bank of Namibia investigation continues. (CBI Global) asserts that it needs day-to-day operating expenses to continue to operate and exist until the parties’ disagreement is resolved. (CBI Global) argues further that if it is denied an urgent hearing, it will be deprived of its right to have its essential day-to-day expenses released and will hence be unable to subsist financially. CBI Global continues to suffer irreparable financial and operational harm as a result of the Bank of Namibia and Bank Windhoek Limited’s unlawful meddling.”
The court recognizes CBI Global as a valid company. It is an obvious Ponzi scheme that has crashed four times.
I understand that the BoN’s regulatory case against CBI Global must still play out, but in the interim, allowing a Ponzi scheme to launder stolen investor cash with the assistance of an attorney is abhorrent. The Bank of Namibia has, as expected, appealed the High Court’s verdict. The Supreme Court of Namibia received an appeal on July 7, the same day the High Court’s judgement was filed.
Unfortunately, the Namibian High Court’s ruling is merely the most recent instance of African regulators’ inability to address MLM-related securities fraud.
We have the Mirror Trading International disaster in South Africa. Clynton and Cheri Marks (right), the presumed proprietors of the $1.7 billion Ponzi scheme, have been and continue to be disregarded by South African authorities.
In South Africa, the Marks crime family remains at large. For nearly two years, they’ve been free to launder stolen MTI investor funds.
Then there’s Cameroon and the Liyeplimal Ponzi scheme by Emile Simb. Cameroonian police arrested Simb late in May after ignoring Liyeplimal for two years despite many warnings of securities fraud across Africa.
A judge deemed it appropriate to release Simb, causing his quick departure from the country. Simb is said to have fled with the aid of Cameroonian government agents using a diplomatic passport provided by the neighboring Central African Republic.
Simb remains at large.
Between Namibia, South Africa, and Cameroon, this dishearteningly illuminating insight demonstrates how difficult it is for regulators to prosecute MLM-related securities fraud.
Even if authorities do respond (a unicorn occurrence in and of itself), as we have seen in Cameroon and now Namibia, African courts actively work against authorities to vindicate and ultimately liberate scammers.
Therefore, to the degree that operating Ponzi schemes entails any criminal culpability in Namibia, Namibian authorities continue to ignore Coenie Botha’s deception.
Stay tuned pending a ruling on the Bank of Namibia’s Supreme Court appeal.
