Iuze Mukube
Two men accused alongside 12 others in an alleged human trafficking and cryptocurrency scheme that ran internationally in Namibia have had the charges against them withdrawn.
Windhoek High Court Deputy Judge President Hannelie Prinsloo ordered for the withdrawal of all the charges against Lin Shu Lin and Che You Yi on Wednesday.
The order followed the indication by Advocate Eric Moyo that the State is withdrawing its case against the two accused during the session. No reason was provided, however, for the withdrawal.
Of the 12 accused, only five, including those who had the cases withdrawn against them, made an appearance in court on Wednesday.
This includes accused Fan Jia, Tango Muulyau, Melanda Mamelod Domingo, Carlos Alejandro Baptista Valdes and Toivo Telen Herman.
The judge postponed the matter to 18 November 2026 for the defence to familiarise themselves with the docket and to prove the necessary documents required for the matter to move forward.
The six Chinese nationals also implicated in the matter, who allegedly fled justice and were traced back to China, have yet to be found.
This includes accused Chen Wuyu, Li Ziran, Shi Zijun, Wu Weiyang, Guo Linjie and Wu Nengjun.
A warrant of arrest has been issued against them, after they failed to appear in court and could not be found anywhere in the country since April this year.
In a prior proceeding, the State had indicated that the accused’s presence was confirmed to be in China and that authorities were still considering processes to locate all of them precisely and bring them back.
Two other suspects are allegedly also on the run, including Ang Gim Hee, whom the Singaporean authorities have not yet confirmed entry into Singapore.
It is also unclear if Zheng Haifeng, who holds a Vanuatu passport, entered that country or not. A warrant of arrest was issued in May for these two also.
The accused were arrested following a sting operation in 2023 for allegedly operating an international cryptocurrency fraud scheme in which Namibians were employed.
The total amount of the alleged fraud amounts to US$465 405.56, about N$8.8 million. It is alleged that the accused used at least 50 students to do their dirty work while also threatening their families.
They face 58 counts of trafficking in humans, six counts of fraud, two counts of confiscation of identification and travel documents, one count of money laundering, one count of racketeering, one count of failure to pay tax, and aiding and abetting any prohibited person to remain in Namibia.
The state is alleging that between December 2022 and October 2023 the accused recruited unemployed Namibians through the close corporation Raylon Investments and trained them to lure people to make investments in cryptocurrency accounts controlled by them.
The accused allegedly subjected the recruited employees to forced labour and economic and criminal exploitation.
The recruited employees were allegedly made to create fake social media accounts and profiles, posing as American and European women to build relationships with victims who were lured to make investments into cryptocurrency accounts controlled by the accused.
-imukube@nepc.com.na
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