Conteh is standing trial on a single count of theft after spending seven months in state custody He is accused of stealing D1,538,804.95 from Kanilai Family Farm. He said he is not guilty.
Yesterday, Ousman Bah, a police officer attached to the major crime unit told the court that he obtained a cautionary statement from Mr Conteh but he was moved to the airport shortly afterwards. “I cautioned him in respect of the case before the panel. It was about the funds given to him when he was the former MD of Kanilai Family Farms.”
When Mr Bah was asked by Lamin Mboge, the lawyer for the accused, what the case was about, he replied: “It was about the funds given to him to renovate a building around the Albert Market.” Asked what happened to the funds, Mr Bah said, “That was what we were investigating,” adding that he did not know how much the funds amount to.
Mr Bah said he did not know when Mr Conteh was arrested and arraigned before the court. And when Lawyer Mboge asked him:
“Is it correct that apart from obtaining exhibit A (cautionary statement) you don’t know anything else about this case,” Mr Bah replied, “Yes”.
Earlier in his evidence, Mr Bah said Mr Conteh wrote his own statement which he later endorsed. “I called him to my desk and asked him whether he could write his own statement and he said yes. Before writing his statement, I read the cautionary wordings to him.”
The prosecutor, Sub-Inspector Badjie applied for an adjournment and the case resumes on August 27.
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