A couple from Namibia’s northeast region is suspected of having amassed around a quarter of a million Namibia Dollars since the start of April by defrauding unemployed people.

The alleged fraudsters lure the jobless by promising them jobs in Namibia’s promising oil industry and charge a whopping N$200 for an employment application form and the subsequent processing thereof. Victims of their fraud accused them of preying on people’s desperation.
Informanté was approached by a Walvis Bay resident who says he paid an amount of N$200 on 9 April this year for an application form for a job with a company by the name of Bouchard Transport, incorporating Bouchard Ocean Services. This company has a registered address in New York in the United States of America. Had any of the victims of the scheme turned to the internet, the first search results would have confirmed that this company indeed exists, but is not involved in oil exploration or oil production, but is merely an oil transporter and only operates in the New York area.
The couple selling the applications are known simply as ‘Kaprika’, a man from Kavango, and his girlfriend who signs the receipts under the name of ‘Shiyave’. She claims to be from Katima Mulilo, but information at Informante’s disposal indicates the woman’s real name to be “Inonge” and that previously she was employed by a fish factory in Walvis Bay.
The receipts issued to jobseekers immediately raised suspicions as they were printed by a reputable commercial printing company in Walvis Bay. A visit to the printing house revealed that ‘Kaprika’ is a well-spoken man from Rundu and he printed receipt books with the serial numbers from 0001 to 1200. Kaprika collected these receipt books from the printing company on 27 March 2012, after paying over N$500 in cash for the print work and by 9 April had already issued more than 200 receipts and pocketed an estimated N$40 000. Had the couple issued all the receipts by now, they could have extracted more than N$250 000 from their unemployed victims.
“There are a lot of people who bought these application forms”, one of the victims, Sibuku Alley, said this week. He was spurred on by his friends to buy an application form, as they all did. “We are all in need of a job and this company is working with oil” Sibuku was told. Unfortunately a combination of desperation for work, a lack of research and naivety put the jobseekers at a disadvantage.
“I will never see my money again,” Sibuku said and his eyes revealed a mixture of emotions caused by embarrassment, frustration and anger about the whole situation.