State House warns against Harambee scammers State House has warned the public to be on the lookout for scammers using the name of First Lady Monica Geingos to commit fraud. A statement issued by the special advisor to the First Lady, Tuli-Mevava Nghiyoonanye, said scammers using Geingos’s name had tried to swindle people on 1 November and 30 December 2015.
Nghiyoonanye said the first scam required participants to recruit three people, who each had to pay a stipulated amount. They were asked to retain a portion of the money and give the balance to the person who had recruited them.
“This is a typical pyramid scheme and is illegal in terms of the Banking Institutions Act (Act 2 of 1998), Section 55.
“The second scam relates to a fictitious project of the First Lady which seeks to build low-income houses for domestic workers. We are informed that an upfront fee of N$80 is required and sign-up is happening at or around the Bethel Church in Katutura, Khomas Region,” Nghiyoonanye said.
She emphasised that neither the First Lady nor her One Economy Foundation solicits money from the public through agents.
State House warned Namibians to be extra careful when dealing with people who claim to be working for the First Lady or her office.
“Individuals and agencies that are soliciting money or attempting to recruit members must be reported to the Namibian Police. We would like to draw attention to two scams which are of particular concern to us as they target domestic workers, gardeners and security guards. The targets of these scams expose the heartless greed of fraudsters,” the statement pointed out.
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