Business Reporter

THE Bank of Namibia has warned the Namibian public towards the rise of fraudulent funding schemes that falsely promise monetary backing for Namibia’s improvement initiatives.

Johannes! Gawaxab, the Governor of the Bank of Namibia, defined that these schemes are notably aimed toward high-ranking authorities officers, ministries, conventional leaders, and outstanding public figures, exploiting their reputations to lend credibility to misleading affords.

“Of late, the Bank has observed that prominent religious and traditional leaders, as well as church elders, are also approached to advance these investment schemes to their church communities by using their influence. The international actors behind these schemes often present enticing opportunities, such as billions in humanitarian funding with no interest or collateral requirements, misrepresenting themselves and using the names of government offices, ministries, and agencies to entrap individuals and institutions to partake in illicit activities. These offerings appear very enticing in vulnerable communities to the extent that the religious leaders become desperate to pay over the little they collected from the church communities, to start these investment scheme offerings,” !Gawaxab stated.

He added that these fraudsters declare to have entry to huge sums of cash, usually valued within the thousands and thousands or billions of US Dollars or Euros, and current these funds as investments to finance Namibia’s financial improvement and mega development tasks.

“In an attempt to make their scams appear legitimate, they use mainly falsified documents, including forged SWIFT transfers or Money Order payment confirmations, to deceive individuals into engaging with these illicit activities. Additionally, the criminals behind these schemes often apply pressure by falsely claiming that local commercial banks are withholding the funds and requesting intervention from the Bank of Namibia to release these non-existent funds. Some even go as far as requesting victims to open bank accounts to receive these fake investments. It had been observed that these individuals use the name of the central bank to wrongly create the perception that commercial banks are blocking their funds without the victims understanding the role of the central bank as banker only to Government and not members of the public. In other instances, they claim that since the central bank’s mandate is to issue money, the investment vehicles can be used to support the issuance of our local currency,” !Gawaxab stated.

The central financial institution governor added that following intensive investigations into these funding schemes, the Bank of Namibia has confirmed that these supposed SWIFT switch or Money Order funds don’t exist and are fictitious.

“All documents presented by some of the unsuspecting Namibian nationals are fraudulent, often riddled with typographical errors, inconsistencies, and logos sourced from questionable origins. These clear warning signs indicate that the investment offers are nothing more than scams aimed at exploiting unsuspecting individuals. Another such fraudulent scheme was also uncovered through the Bank’s investigations, which falsely presented itself as a holder of large investment funds and targeted Namibian authorities, including traditional leaders, through a local firm. In the process, they attempted to use false financial instruments, including International Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes, to try and deceive the Namibian Government into accepting or endorsing these non-existent investments,” !Gawaxab stated.

He concluded by urging members of the general public to stay vigilant and to report any suspicious funding schemes.

“If approached by individuals claiming to offer large-scale funding for Namibia’s development, especially when unsolicited documents or promises of extraordinary financial returns are involved, it is critical to verify the authenticity of the offer with relevant authorities before proceeding. Such schemes not only endanger individual investors but also pose a threat to the financial stability of the entire country. Namibia welcomes and encourages legitimate foreign direct investment, but will not tolerate the misuse of its financial system for fraudulent purposes. The integrity of our financial system is paramount,” !Gawaxab stated.