Bank Big Vons in Court Today

The Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Chief Superintendent Ibrahim Koroma has confirmed to Politico that the Managing Director of the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, Crispin Bishop Deigh, his deputy Patrick Conteh, property developer Simeon Kabbah Khalu, Chief Tony Chiekezie of the First International Bank (FiBank) will appear before a Freetown magistrate court today. He would not say what charges would be brought against the men who are alleged to have been involved in a “fraudulent loan scheme” involving three banks and the home finance company, HFC. The Chief Superintendent said that “holding charges” would be brought against them until they could put together the substantive charges. He said the arraignment today was largely in fulfilment of their constitutional right not to keep them beyond ten days without charge, adding that the matter required “complex investigations”. However a source at the law officers’ department told Politico that the four would be charged with “conspiracy to defraud”. Sources that should know say that Kalu took a loan amounting to tens of billions of Leones from the SLCB, FiBank, Guarantee Trust Bank and HFC apparently using the same collateral. The matter came to the fore after HFC went to court following a default in payment of the loan by Kalu who is head of Premier Investment. Once the court ruled that HFC could take over the collateral to recoup their loan, other banks were caught up in the fallout. Some lawyers have expressed concerns to Politico that some of the men had already been held beyond the constitutional limit. (C) Politico Online 03/07/13