By Bruce Asemota
The High Court in Banjul has placed a two-million-dalasi bail as security on one Kwesi Boyd, an American businessman and CEO of Invest, Relocate Africa in the Gambia.
The court order came in a ruling in the civil matter between Boyd and one Shauntay White, a philanthropist, the plaintiff in this case.
Shauntay White is claiming the sum of nearly 2 million as damages for defamation of character, three hundred and ninety thousand dalasi for rent due to the defendant’s breach of contract, emotional and psychological stress caused by the defendant.
According to the affidavit in support of the motion, the plaintiff who is also an American, met the defendant in July 2020 on social media whilst promoting vacation properties and was looking for investors to fund a project to repatriate black Americans and Europeans to Africa and Gambia in particular.
The plaintiff expressed interest in investing in the project and began sending money to the defendant but the trouble started when she arrived via Dakar and had to pay her own transportation fares to reach the Gambia after the defendant failed to pay for her transport.
The plaintiff said she realized that the defendant breached the agreement from her arrival and then discovered that the defendant’s vehicle did not have a vehicle registration number, thus it was not authorized to drive on Gambian roads.
The plaintiff’s affidavit also disclosed that when she reached Ghana Town, she realized that the rooms did not have the things that were advertised on the website.
She realized that the scheme was all fraud when she went with the defendant to Bakoteh.
The Plaintiff disclosed that there was no housing scheme as claimed by the defendant as there was no facility in the said house as advertised by the defendant.
The Plaintiff disclosed that she rented a property for the sum of D390.000.00 for a year on the 17th October, 2020 and then continued to establish herself and distanced herself from the defendant.
The Plaintiff further disclosed in her that she received a letter on the 31st December, 2020 from Fajara Chambers and the defendant threatening to sue her for US$ 74.000.00 equal to the sum of D3,700.000.00 for reasons best known to him and started attacking her on social media accusing her of being a prostitute, drug trafficker amongst others.
The Plaintiff; Shauntay White resorted to seek legal action against the defendant so as to resolve the dispute.
Meanwhile, the High Court in its ruling ordered that the defendant be admitted to bail in the sum of D2.000.000.00 and the defendant should provide two Gambian sureties, who do not have nationality of another country to depose to an affidavit of means in the like sum.
