By Baba Sillah
Hon Demba Sowe, the National Assembly Member for Niamina West, has dismissed any suggestion that he is part of an ongoing criminal trial, stressing that this unfounded rumour is being peddled by his political opponents.
“I am not standing any trial as far as I know. I know for sure that a few yeas ago while I was working for a shipping company called B&KK, I was along with my boss and others reported to the police and later charged with theft following a complaint by one Muhammed Tunkara and others.
However, we were all acquitted by the court and since then, I have never been charged or a subject of any trial,” Hon Sowe told The Standard over the phone last evening.
However in a widely published case in 2015, Sowe was named alongside few other persons charged by prosecutors with conspiring among themselves to deceive Mr Muhammed Tunkara, a Gambian based in the UK and his partner by collecting US$161,000 equivalent to D6, 273, 000 on the pretext that they were going to sell 50kg of gold valued at US$1.5 million to them.
They were further accused of making a false document of 50 kilograms of gold dust from Guinea Conakry, which they knew was false. They all denied the charges.
According to court reports, Justice Abi, the presiding judge gave an order back in 2015 for the arrest of Mr Sowe and one Alpha Kantè after they failed to appear in court.
However, Hon Sowe maintained yesterday that he had never been called or tried in any court over this matter since his acquittal and discharge by a magistrate court.
