Court orders seizure of 10 bank accounts with N$52.5 million

23 January, 2025

By: Hertha Ekandjo

Namibian authorities have seized 10 bank accounts holding N$52,5 million earned from illegal coal mining in South Africa.

Court papers seen by NewsonOne reveal that the Prosecutor-General’s Office acquired a preservation of property order against Jacobus Hosea Jordaan and his wife, Elza Jordaan.

The order also covers Farm Welgevonde and the Namka Trust.

Eight of the 10 accounts with the First National Bank of Namibia belong to the Jordaan couple, and two others belong to Elza’s sister, Reinert Binneman.

The Jordaan couple were arrested in South Africa after the police raided their farm in Carolina in 2023.

The police recovered 270 tons of illicit coal valued at R264 million, together with heavy-duty mining machinery, equipment and motor vehicles, and the washing plant machinery valued at almost R2 billion was confiscated.

The Financial Intelligence Centre director Bryan Eiseb confirmed working with the South African National Prosecution Authority on the case.

Elza Jordaan has four accounts; her husband has two accounts, one under Namka Trust and the other under Farm Welgevonde Farming Limited.

Eiseb said the FIC approached the Prosecutor-General’s Office after establishing enough ground to escalate the matter.

“We used our powers under the Financial Intelligence Act and reserved the monies in these accounts through an intervention order to avoid the dissipation (of any funds out of the accounts.”

“And after having, worked with law enforcement, law enforcement in particular, our asset forfeiture unit in Namibia, we then established that there are reasonable grounds to escalate the matter to the Namibian police and the prosecutor general, who then in turn applied for a reservation order in this respect,” said Eiseb.

Written by: Leonard Witbeen

asset forfeiture bank account seizure Bryan Eiseb Elza Jordaan Farm Welgevonde FIC Namibia Financial Intelligence First National Bank Namibia heavy-duty machinery Illegal coal mining illegal coal seizure illicit coal Jacobus Hosea Jordaan N$52.5 million Namibian authorities Namka Trust preservation order R264 million coal South African collaboration South African prosecution