NAMFISA content with Novanam investigations

The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) last week announced in a statement that it was satisfied with investigations into the Novanam Pension Fund fraud case and are now awaiting the fraud case against accused David Poloko to run its course.

Principal Officer of the Novanam Pension Fund, David Pokolo, was subsequently arrested and appeared in court on charges of misappropriating funds intended to benefit pension fund members.
“As the supervisory authority over pension funds, NAMFISA appointed an external audit firm to investigate the matter. The investigation confirmed that there were indeed irregularities with the manner in which benefits were paid as some members of the said fund did not receive what was due to them in terms of pension pay outs,” the statement said.
The Authority has also requested the Novanam Pension Fund to confirm whether members and or their beneficiaries were disadvantaged by the alleged misappropriation of members’ pension benefits. Confirmation was received that the fund had a policy in place to cover risks and incidents related to fraud.
The fund also assured NAMFISA that settlements were made in favour of all those whose benefits were initially tampered with illegally. NAMFISA is therefore satisfied with assurances that all employees or former employees of Novanam and their respective beneficiaries who were affected by the alleged misappropriation received or will receive their full benefits as per their years of service and contribution to the pension fund.
“In the light of the above assurances and commitment by the fund, NAMFISA considers this matter closed on its side and would let the fraud case against Pokolo take its course,” the statement concluded.”