Seedou Bojang, former accountant at the National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDEA), yesterday told the high court in Banjul that he was never a party to any plea bargaining before the board of the NDEA.
Seedou was continuing his defence testimony under cross-examination in the trial of Ibrahim Bun Sanneh, former executive director of the NDEA and four others at the high court in Banjul before Justice Emmanuel Amadi.
He told the court that soon after the monies were thumbprinted, they should have been taken to the court registrar together with the accused person.
“The money was for plea bargaining, and any money belonging to the state was subject to an official receipt,” he added.
He said that at the time he was collecting the said money from Marie Sanneh , he was acting on official duties, and that the D140,000 given to Marie Sanneh was never recovered from her.
He also told the court that “the D140,000 does not belong to the state,” because it was not thumbprinted for, and that he could not shed light on the issue of Babucarr Jatta, because he was never a party to the plea bargaining board.
The fifth accused further asserted that he could not remember the actual date he collected the money from the 4th accused person, Marie Sanneh.
“It was not a normal practice for the accountant or the cashier to issue an undated receipt, but it is possible for the accountant to issue an undated receipt,” he told the court.
The case continues on Thursday.
