DRC’s N$40m fishing deal lands Standard Bank in court

Swapo company accused of misappropriating N$13m from DRC

A Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) state fund has taken Standard Bank Namibia to court over a N$40-million transaction that allowed a fishing company Swapo owns to misappropriate N$13 million from a protected bank account.

High Court documents show the DRC’s state social fund, formally known as the Fond Social de la République Démocratique du Congo (FSRDC), filed papers on 26 May.

FSRDC is suing Standard Bank Namibia, Daron Namibia, owned by businessman Luther Mostert, and Hodago Fishing, of which the shareholders include Swapo with 45%.

The fund claims Standard Bank allowed the account mandate to be changed, removed its representative as a signatory, and permitted funds to be transferred without its consent.

Standard Bank Namibia spokesperson Elzita Beukes yesterday declined to respond, saying the company is unable to comment on an ongoing legal matter.

This transaction dates back to 2025 when the DRC state fund initially paid N$25 million for the Swapo partly owned company to catch horse mackerel in Namibian waters.

The money was paid into a Standard Bank escrow (holding) account – established by the DRC’s state social fund, Daron Namibia and Hodago Fishing – to protect millions meant for a horse mackerel fishing venture in Namibia.

The DRC’s state social fund says the account was meant to ensure no money could move unless strict conditions were met and all authorised parties agreed on transactions related to catching the fish.

The fish was never fully caught.

Instead, the DRC state social fund claims the bank account was emptied.

It says N$10 million, without its approval, went to Daron Namibia to repay its loan to Standard Bank.

The DRC fund says at least N$13.5 million was further misappropriated by Hodago.

THE DEAL

Documents filed by FSRDC’s lawyer, Ndeli Ndaitwah, show a court battle centred on two transactions: a US$1.4 million (about N$25.2 million) deposit made into a holding account in October 2025 and a further N$30 million deposited in February 2026.

The DRC fund says the first payment formed part of a horse mackerel quota agreement signed with Hodago Fishing in September 2025.

Under the deal, Hodago was contracted to catch 6 428 tonnes of horse mackerel from Namibian waters for US$8.7 million (N$156 million).

The agreement required Hodago to provide a performance guarantee and channel all payments through a holding account.

The DRC fund says it met its obligations but alleges Hodago did not.

“The vessels used were not seaworthy for the intended fishing operations,” the DRC institution says.

Court documents state that only one fishing trip was completed, producing about 500 tonnes of fish instead of the expected 1 200 tonnes.

After approved expenses were deducted, about US$750 000 (N$13.5 million) remained in the holding account.

The DRC fund alleges Hodago requested that the money be converted into Namibia dollars, effectively removing it from the escrow structure and placing it under their control.

“The conversion resulted in the funds being removed from the escrow structure and transferred into accounts controlled by Hodago, where they were not applied as intended but misappropriated,” the summons states.

‘NOT OUR MESS’

Responding to The Namibian’s questions, Hodago Fishing has confirmed it received funds from the DRC State Social Fund as reflected in court documents.

However, the company says it could not provide further details on the amounts received or how the funds were applied because of ongoing legal proceedings and planned counterclaims.

Hodago rejects allegations that it misappropriated any funds.

“There was no misappropriation of funds from Hodago. All funds were applied as agreed and will be proven in court in our counterclaims,” it says.

Hodago further claims not all of the funds in dispute were received by the fishing company.

“Some of the funds were not received by Hodago but by Daron Group, and that arrangement established an escrow account which was to be handled by Daron, the DRC group and Hodago, but was handled differently by Daron despite specific instructions from Hodago,” the company says.

Hodago Fishing, in which Swapo has a 45% stake, and Kuiseb Fishing Enterprises are co-owned by Naras Investment’s Kuiseb Fishing Enterprises and Gendev Fishing Resources.

Liberation war veterans Maxton Mutongolume, Moses //Garoëb, John Hamutumwa, Pashukeni Shoombe, Ernst Kubirske and Festus Naholo established Naras in 1991.

STANDARD BANK’S ROLE

By November 2025, the DRC fund claims only about US$25 000 (N$450 000) remained in the account held at Standard Bank.

A meeting was held on 4 November 2025 involving representatives of Standard Bank, Daron Namibia and the DRC fund to rescue the struggling venture.

According to the court documents, Standard Bank proposed a restructuring arrangement under which Daron would receive funding to continue the fishing operations.

The bank’s then head of client coverage for business and commercial banking, Dominic Shikola, allegedly proposed that “Standard Bank would facilitate and/or support the provision of funding of approximately N$10 000 000 to Daron”.

The proposal envisaged Daron using the funds to mobilise vessels, with Standard Bank recovering the money from fish sales.

The DRC fund says it agreed to continue only if a new escrow arrangement with tighter safeguards was put in place.

According to the court papers, the parties agreed on the following: “No withdrawals, transfers, or transactions could be effected on the escrow account without the joint authorisation of the authorised signatories.”

Relying on those assurances, the DRC fund deposited a further US$1.6 million (N$30 million), into the holding account on 6 February this year.

The DRC institution says Standard Bank knew the money belonged exclusively to the fund.

“Neither Daron nor Hodago paid the funds into the escrow account, and . . . they had no personal entitlement to the funds,” the summons states.

Just four days later, on 10 February, the DRC fund terminated its agreements with Hodago and Daron.

The following day, representatives of the DRC institution met Standard Bank officials and reiterated that no money was to move without its consent.

The DRC fund says it relied on those assurances.

The Namibian has reached out to both the Daron Group and its managing director, Luther Mostert, but has received no response.

Mostert is a person of interest.

In 2020, he was granted bail of N$140 000 in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court after being arrested in connection with fraud, tax evasion, forgery and uttering involving the importation of chicken worth N$7.5 million.

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