By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Evidence presented before Magistrate Sahr Kekura at the Pademba Road Magistrate Court in Freetown has implicated one Mustapha Daramy in a scam of over 220 million Leones.
Daramy was arraigned in court on Monday 20th September this year faced with various charges of obtaining money by false pretence contrary to section 32 of the Larceny Act of 1916.
Daramy is alleged to have, under false pretense, obtained the sum of sixty-two million, five hundred thousand Leones (Le 62,500,000) from one Mohamed Fofanah being payments for his siblings, Ibrahim Fofanah and Fatmata Yansaneh for travel to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The elder brother, Fofanah told the court that he met the accused in early 2019 at an airport in Paris. He said that Daramy rendered to help him after those supposed to pick him didn’t show up. He said with the help of the accused, he was able to contact one Amadu Sillah who advised him to visit the train station.
Fofanah said that it was while they were on their way to the train station that the accused told him that his job is to facilitate the travel of people from Africa to Europe. The witness said that he later informed the accused that he would be interested in sending both his younger brother and sister overseas.
According to the evidence in chief, the accused agreed with Fofanah for the said younger brother to meet him in Liberia with the said sum. Fofanah told the Magistrate that the accused did not facilitate the trip as arranged.
In another matter, Daramy, in September 2019, under false pretense was said to have solicited the sum of forty-five million, five hundred thousand Leones (45,500,000) from one Inatoma Davies Tassoe being fees to facilitate the traveling of her daughter Francess Tassoe to France.
The mother, Tassoe, led in evidence by Sergeant 8998 Kadie Taylor, said that she met the accused in Bo through a friend by the name of Sallay Harding. She told the Magistrate that they agreed on a sum of twenty-two million Leones (Le 22,000,000) as part payment for her daughter.
The middle-aged lady affirmed that the accused left with her daughter and four other men for Ivory Coast where a proposed interview for visa to France was to be conducted but the process was not completed as promised by Daramy.
Counsel representing Daramy, Emmanuel Teddy Koroma challenged Tassoe that her daughter actually went through the interview but failed in the process, a claim the lady denied. The witness agreed with the lawyer that it was after Interpol had brought the accused to Sierra Leone that they went ahead with their case.
Daramy, in another matter is said to have also solicited under false pretense, the sum of sixty million Leones (Le 60,000,000) from one Hassan Bangura and Alhaji Daboh in order to facilitate their traveling to France and the United Kingdom respectively.
A similar allegation was brought up against Daramy who is said to have also taken the sum of sixty million Leones (Le 60,000,000) from one Yusif Kamara on the pretext of facilitating his move to Australia.
Magistrate Kekura denied bail for the accused and ordered that he continued to be remanded at the Pademba Road Correctional Centre in Freetown.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (22/09/21)
