Ricardo Gustavo testifies for bail

Former director of Investec Asset Management Namibia client manager Ricardo Gustavo testified in the High Court in November 2021 for bail. The charges Gustavo is facing are connected to his involvement in the company Namgomar Pesca Namibia, through which Icelandic-owned fishing companies secured access to Namibian fishing quotas which had supposedly been allocated to an Angolan company under a fisheries cooperation agreement between Namibia and Angola. On behalf of the state, deputy prosecutor general Cliff Lutibezi said there has been a genuine public outcry about the case in which Gustavo and his co-accused are charged. The case involves public resources which were misappropriated by people, including two ministers who were supposed to act in the public interest, Lutibezi said. Adding that a total amount of N$317 million is alleged to have been misappropriated through the use of Namibian fishing quotas to which the accused in the matter got access, Lutibezi argued that in the event of a conviction after a trial heavy sentences are likely to be imposed.