By Saio Marrah
Three out of four men – including a 54-year-old British national with dual Sierra Leonean citizenship have appeared before a magistrate in Freetown in connection with an alleged embezzlement of one piece of diamond weighing two hundred and sixty-four (264) carats with an estimated value of forty-two million, two hundred and forty thousand United States Dollars ($42,240,000), property of Benjamin Merer.
Sheku Kabba alias ID card, 49, Tamba Lebbie, 25, and Sahr Lebbie, 28, were the first, second, and third accused persons respectively and Gehad Basma, the fourth accused.
Sahr Lebbie, the third accused was absent on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, and caused Magistrate Santigie Bangura to adjourn the matter to Friday, August 16, 2024. The first three accused persons are all miners based in the Kono diamond.
The three accused persons who appeared before the court were granted bail on the condition that they each produce three sureties with two billion Leones. The sureties must be property owners and the properties should bear their names, including on the building permit of the said properties and they must hand over all their travelling documents.
Bail was granted after lawyer Jessie Jengo pleaded with the magistrate promising that the accused persons would cooperate with the court and respect their bail conditions.
State prosecutor Yusif Isaac Sesay, while not opposing the bail application, told the magistrate that if he must grant bail, he should send a message that the case was not a trivial issue.
All four accused persons are charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud and another count of fraudulent embezzlement.
The dual national, Basma was separately charged with another count for receiving stolen goods in reference to the diamond in question.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (16/08/24)
