The client,an international petroleum company indicated that it was interested in purchasing stakes in a number of Namibian oil blocs which were owned by two local corporate entities.

While they were aware of some of the listed directors of these entities, the client wanted to confirm that the blocks and ownership were in no way connected to a Namibian national who was known to collude financially with public officials in return for getting cheap stakes in oil blocs and then flipping them for a profit to international companies.

The client also wished to ensure that there were no connections between the ownership of these companies and public officials.

Investigation

Titarios conducted an investigation into the directors of the corporate entities that owned the oil blocs under consideration, checked records with the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy, conducted discrete source interviews with well-placed business professionals as well as anti-corruption investigators and also examined various court filings in South Africa and Namibia.

Findings

Investigations revealed that one of the directors of the entities who owned the oil blocs of interest, was the Personal Assistant of the Namibian national whom the client did not wish to do business with. Titarios also uncovered a pattern of directorship in entities by this Personal Assistant that were eventually linked to his boss when an actual sale of assets occurred. In addition, another company director was revealed to be a high-ranking public official with the Namibian Presidency, while a third was a close friend of a senior official in the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy.