Two Cenored employees arrested on fraud allegations

Two male employees of the North Central Regional Electricity Distributor (Cenored) at Otjiwarongo, were arrested on Tuesday morning on allegations of fraudulent activities and forgery. Namibian Police Force (NamPol) head of community affairs in the Otjozondjupa Region, Senior Inspector Maureen Mbeha in an interview with Nampa Tuesday afternoon said the suspects are aged 43 and 50 years and will appear in court on Wednesday. Mbeha stated that the two are linked to a fraud syndicate which occurred at Cenored between 2021 and 2022, where several company managers were implicated, and were suspended. 'Some of them have returned at work, while the 36-year-old Mateus Fungo, suspected to be the key figure in the fraud, resigned from the company in 2023,' said Mbeha. Fungo was arrested in April this year and appeared before the Otjiwarongo Magistrate's Court. He represented himself and informed the court that he would bring along a private lawyer during his next court appearances. According to the charge sheet w hich was seen by Nampa on 04 April 2024, Fungo was employed as a system administrator and allegedly played a role in defrauding Cenored of about N.dollars 12 million between September 2021 and December 2022. In January 2023, Fungo resigned from Cenored and started running his own private companies which he established in areas of the Kavango East, Zambezi and Otjozondjupa regions, stated the court document. Fungo was released on N.dollars 5 000 bail. Police investigations continue. Source: The Namibia Press Agency