By Abass Jalloh
Magistrate Isata Sellu-Tucker of Pademba Road Court No. 2 in Freetown has remanded Almira Abdullah, a former banker of Ecobank Sierra Leone Limited, Lunsar Branch, for allegedly embezzling the sum of Le 200,000,000 (two hundred million Leones) of the bank’s money.
The 34-year-old accused is before the court for counts of Embezzlement contrary to section 17(1) (b) of the Larceny Act of 1916 and Larceny by Servant contrary to section 17(1) (a) of the same act.
It was alleged that the accused on a date unknown between May 2019 and May 2020 at the said bank fraudulently embezzled and also stole the stated amount.
Testifying in court yesterday November 22, Police Constable Sergeant 9796, James Samai, attached to the Economic Financial and Fraud Unit at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters in Freetown, told the court that he recognized the accused and knows the complainant.
Sergeant Samai recounted that on the 13 June 2020, he was on duty at the CID when he received a distress call from Ecobank at Charlotte Street in Freetown.
He said upon reaching the bank together with Sergeant 9394 Koroma M. M., they met the accused being interrogated by staff of the bank in respect of the stated sum.
He said they questioned and cautioned her before she was arrested and broughtto the CID.
Statements were obtained from complainants and witnesses, Sergeant Samai said, adding that during the course of the investigation, the bank produced relevant documents including the bank’s savings withdrawal slips, accounts open mandate of the customers, and copy of the admission statement by the accused to the bank in respect of the alleged fraudulent conversion. These documents were presented to the court to form part of the court records.
On the 24th April 2020, the accused said he and Sergeant Koroma obtained and recorded interview with the accused person on caution. He said he cautioned and questioned her in Krio and she responded in same, and during the caution she admitted to have given the sum of OLe 150,000,000 (one hundred and fifty million Leones) to Sahr Sundu, her boyfriend, who lives at Murray Town in Freetown. He said they went in search of the said boyfriend but he was nowhere to be found.
Because of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019 she was put on bail as requested by the bank, the police officer told the court.
The police officer stated that in October 2022, they later received additional documents of withdrawal slips which were handed over to the CID. They were produced and tendered in court.
According to the police officer, on the 12 October 2022, he and his colleagues obtained final and charge statements from the accused, noting that she was charged with two counts of Embezzlement and Larceny by Servant.
Under cross examination by Lawyer M. B. Koroma, the witness said he interviewed the accused and other witnesses.
He said he also reviewed some documents from the bank and among those documents was the internal investigations by the bank.
Lawyer Koroma put it to the witness that the bank should not be an instructor to give the accused bail, but the witness stated that because they had “humanitarian feeling” for the accused, they decided to put her on bail on that request.
The matter was adjourned to the 29th November 2022.
Copyright © Politico Online (23/11/22)
