Pensioners’ millions gone
• N$250 million to N$350 million likely lost • “Now we have nothing left” At least N$250 million belonging to Namibian pensioners and families has been lost after a Windhoek financial advisory firm risked their savings on foreign investments. After losing money overseas, Wealth Management Solutions (WMS) owner Hanjo Schlabitz allegedly paid out clients from […] The post Pensioners’ millions gone appeared first on The Namibian .
• N$250 million to N$350 million likely lost • “Now we have nothing left”
At least N$250 million belonging to Namibian pensioners and families has been lost after a Windhoek financial advisory firm risked their savings on foreign investments.
After losing money overseas, Wealth Management Solutions (WMS) owner Hanjo Schlabitz allegedly paid out clients from other people’s accounts to hide the losses and keep his firm afloat.
Investors say they were not kept informed of WMS’ deepening financial woes and kept paying into a failing firm.
A total of 87 people and two organisations have come forward to recover what they can, but the liquidator estimates the total losses are likely to reach N$350 million.
Wealth Management Solutions has for years advertised itself as a go-to financial advisory that expands people’s wealth.
Many of its clients were elderly people who had trusted the firm for years. Some had started investing 20 years ago with Schlabitz’s father, who founded the firm and built its name in the tight-knit German-Namibian community.
Others include non-profit organisations that are now at risk of retrenching their employees.
Schlabitz invested savings and pensions on their behalf. Part of it went into local investment companies.
