The six Gambians Hamidou Savage, Abdou Camara, Ousman Sowe, Mansa Bah, Sheikh Dawda York, Kemo Fatty and two Guineans, Alpha Kante and Oumie Saffiatou Diallo, were arraigned on three counts of conspiracy to defraud, obtaining money by false pretence and economic crime.
They are accused of conspiring among themselves to deceive Mr Abdoulie Bittaye and his partner by collecting D7, 465, 000 on the pretext that they were going to sell 50 kilos of gold which they knew was false.
They are also accused of intentionally causing economic loss to The Gambia government by declaring only D41, 475, 000 to the Gambia Revenue Authority instead of D59, 250, 000 causing economic loss of D1, 777, 500 which is injurious to the economy of The Gambia.
However, the marabout and his co-accused, could not take their plea. Three of the accused persons, Oumie Saffiatou Diallo, Alpha Kante and Abdou Camara were not present in court. The judge, Simon Abi, threatened that he will issue a bench warrant to any accused person who does not appear in court on March 4.
At this point, Edward Gomez, one of the lawyers for the defendants, asked the judge to make an order for the prosecutor to serve the defence with all the indictments.
“Everyone who is charged with criminal offence shall be given adequate time for preparation of their defence,” he argued. “Up to this point in time, we did not receive any document showing the summary of evidence and list of witnesses.”
His request was granted by the judge who ordered the prosecution to serve the defence with all the relevant documents in the matter. The case will resume March 4 for plea taking.
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