IN what could be a tip of the iceberg in credit card fraud, a Congolese, Mark Aka Ebo, allegedly used Air Namibia and South African Airways to siphon more than N$400,000 from his victims by buying tickets which he sold on the blackmarket.

Although he is known as a Congolese national going by the name of Mark Aka Ebo in the social circles, he identified himself as Mark Mubalama when he was cornered by the police at his house.
Mubalama or Aka Ebo allegedly colluded with a Manuel “Malsie” Tjavera who was recently conferred with the regional netball umpire status to defraud his employers, a South African logistics support company, Equity Aviation.
Ebo, who is in police custody, was arrested and initially appeared in court in Windhoek on 8 January 2010 for buying 35 tickets from Equity Aviation and Air Namibia.
His case [CR04/01/2010]  was postponed to 10 March 2010 for further investigation.
Tjivera, has allegedly been suspended and could not be reached for comment yesterday because his mobile phone was off while after several visits to his house yielded nothing.
He is now allegedly being threatened by other credit card fraudsters not to testify against Aka Ebo.
Informanté’s investigations this week revealed that 30 people including some in  London, Sao Paolo, Dubai and Kinshasa-N´Djili Airport bought tickets from Mubalama and flew Air Namibia and SAA in December 2009.
Those who benefitted from the fraudulent ticket sales include medical doctors, civil servants and various suspected drug dealers, according to a list in Informanté’s possession.
A police source yesterday said they were trying to trace the credit cards owners.
Air Namibia corporate communications manager, Helena Kapiah, could neither confirm nor deny the alleged fraud yesterday.
“Credit card fraud is now common in the world and it’s difficult for any company like Air Namibia to detect such practices at face value. People can only buy tickets using their full names. In a case when a scam is suspected internal investigations are done to bring the culprits to book,” she said.
Kapiah also said people got subjected to such crimes occasionally and this makes it difficult for service providers to query ownership of  credit cards.
SAA could not be reached for comment late yesterday.
An inside source at First National Bank said the practice is prevalent in the country but it’s not widespread.
“There have not been any latest reports made to the bank concerning credit card fraud in recent months,” the source said.
Although Aka Ebo claims that he is Zambian, sources say he is using a false surname and nationality.
“I’m Zambian but my father is from Congo,” Aka Ebo said during an interview in the Windhoek Police Station holding cells.
He also denied buying flight tickets with credit cards saying he buys all his flight tickets in cash and that he does not have any credit card.
The list, however, shows that on 16 December 2009, Aka Ebo and a certain Ndahafa Kamati bought two return tickets to Cape Town worth N$8,826 with credit card number 4563533591896528.
He added that in 2008 and 2009, he was arrested in Windhoek on similar allegations but was later released for lack of evidence.
Names of credit card fraud beneficiaries
Sakiru Ayangbaro  - with  two tickets worth  N$18,374;
Toareed Mukaila  - two tickets worth  N$18,374;
Helena Tangeni  - a return ticket worth  N$5115;
Immanuel Erishi  - a return ticket worth  N$5115;
Joseph B Rodeman  - a return ticket worth  N$10,374;
Weather Tjongarero  - a return ticket worth  N$10,847;
Phillipine Angula  - a return ticket worth  N$14,003;
Andries Magarzo  - a return ticket worth  N$14,003;
Maria Guimaraes  - a return ticket worth  N$10,715;
Hilma Mupetami  - a return ticket worth  N$10,715;
Pedro Kayila  - a return ticket worth  N$10,899;
Irene Wasa  - ticket worth  N$9,134;
Ndahafa Kamati  - a return ticket worth  N$4,413;
Kagiso Moloi  - a return ticket worth  N$10,359;
Hassane Beadengar  - a return ticket worth  N$4,423;
Moses Aluteni  - a return ticket worth  N$10,359.
Tomas Dombele  - a ticket worth  N$23,430;
Audrey Akwenye - a return ticket  N$18,272;
Flora Opaugo  - a return ticket worth  N$7,448;
Athena Akwenye  - a return ticket worth  N$14,792;
Nanyukweni Akwenye  - a return ticket worth  N$14,792;
Ndeshitele Johanna Shilongo  - a return ticket worth  N$15,315
Kissompa Cruz  - a return ticket worth  N$18,817
Marcelina Ngoma  - a ticket worth  N$15,767
Mariana Flora Otanga - a ticket worth N$15,767 flew from Sao Paolo to Luano in Democratic Republic of Congo. Wasa also flew from Dubai to Bombay and back.
Mervin Kandingua - a ticket worth N$11,553. He flew from London to Windhoek. Makiona Afonso Patricio - a ticket worth N$27,687 departed Kinshasa for Sao Paolo and then Luano.
Diary Secr - a return ticket worth N$25,272. Secr had a round trip from Bamako in Mali to Windhoek
Ana Pereira - a return ticket worth N$16,239 travelled to Windhoek from Lisbon in Portugal. The suspect also enjoyed a trip from Windhoek to Cape Town.