Freeze their accounts, lock them up – Zamuee

NAMIBIAN Financial Institutions Union secretary general Asnath Zamuee says government must freeze the accounts of those connected to the lost millions at the SME Bank and detain them until the money is recovered.

Zamuee was speaking at the bank's headquarters yesterday after about 50 workers delivered their petition to the trade ministry. The SME Bank was provisionally closed by High Court judge Hannelie Prinsloo yesterday following an urgent application by Bank of Namibia governor Ipumbu Shiimi to shut down the entity after its management failed to recover about N$200 million invested in South Africa. The Namibian this week reported that the financial status of the SME Bank has worsened after it was reported that the bank only has about N$3,8 million in liquid assets available while it has received demands to return about N$500 million to two of its biggest depositors.