By Saio Marrah
Magistrate Mark Ngegba in Freetown has remanded four accused persons, Abubakarr Jah, Abdurrahman Mansallay, Arthur Matturi, and Finnah Hawanatu Marrah on an allegation of defrauding a complainant, Iye Mansaray of $5,000 and NLe 60,000.
Jah (32), 38-year-old Mansallay, Matturi (29), and 21-year-old Ms. Marrah were said to have committed the crime between Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th October 2023.
The complainant, Iye Mansaray, as the first prosecution witness, testified on Tuesday 31st October this year that she was a musician and businesswoman. According to her, she knew the first, second, and third accused persons through the transaction, while the fourth accused has been her best friend for a long time.
According to her, on Monday 2nd October this year, Ms. Marrah called her to say she had a business plan in which she (the fourth accused) wanted the complainant to invest. The following day the 4th accused asked her to meet her at her business partner’s place at Riverside Drive off King Harman Road in Freetown.
She said at Riverside Drive the 4th fourth accused told her that in this business idea, if she invested NLe 10,000 she (complainant) would double her money in return. She said from that point, the 4th accused told her to meet the first and second accused persons at the Lumley Filling Station, but that when they reached the place only the 1st accused was around.
The complainant said while they were at Lumley Road, the 1st accused asked the 4th to provide a towel, rubber bowl, soap, and water, which he provided, and that the first accused also requested a 20 New Leones note on which the 1st accused poured some liquid and then dipped the paper in water. The complainant said she was surprised to see a duplicate of the real money. The “4th accused convinced me that this is the business I am talking about and I accepted. She told me to invest 10 thousand United States Dollars plus 100 million Old Leones”, the complainant told the court. She added: “I told her that I don’t have much, but we (complainant and fourth accused) went to Eco Bank and withdrew $1,000 from my account.”
According to her they then met the first accused at King Harman Road, where she handed the $1,000 plus NLe 30,000 to the first accused through the 4th accused.
From that point on the 1st accused told them (complainant and fourth accused) to wait for five hours for the transaction to complete and that after the five hours, the 1st accused took them to their office at Wilkinson Road. At Wilkinson Road, she said the 1st accused left them in the vehicle on the pretext that he wanted to call the 2nd accused but that they waited there until 10 P.M. but he didn’t return so they left.
The complainant told the court that the 4th accused gave her the phone number for the 2nd accused who told her that he was sorry for the delay in completing the transaction because he was away in Makeni.
She said the 2nd accused convinced her to increase the money to speed up the transaction after which she gave another $4,000 plus NLe 30,000.
The court heard that the following day, the 2nd and 3rd accused met them around Wilberforce saying that everything had been completed
The complainant said later at the same Wilberforce, all the first three accused persons met her and the 4th accused at a particular house at Wilberforce, pulled out a machine and started pressing it, and then complained that there were problems with the internet to do the transaction. She said they then asked her to provide another $1,000 for the internet which she refused to give.
The complainant said when her vehicle ran out of fuel, a brother of the 4th accused, offered to provide NLe400 for fuel and that it was at that point that the man asked her if the 4th accused did not inform her about the money the other accused persons owed him.
She said it was at that moment she realized that the whole thing was a fraud and decided to inform the CID.
The accused are charged with five counts of Conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretense, and causing money to be paid to another with intent to defraud. Preliminary Investigation resumes on the 7th of November this year.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (01/11/23)
