ASP Lamin Cham, a police officer attached to the fraud
squad at police headquarters in Banjul, Monday testified in the case involving
Pa Habibou Mbye and Foday Barry at the Banjul Magistrates’ Court, before
Principal Magistrate Taiwo Ade Alagbe.
Foday Barry, former director of intelligence and investigation at the NDEA, and Pa Habibou Mbye, former crime management coordinator at the same institution, are standing trial on a four-count charge of conspiracy to commit a felony, stealing, making false documents and uttering false documents.
Testifying as the third prosecution witness, ASP Cham told the court that he is a detective officer attached to the fraud squad at police headquarters in Banjul, and headed the panel that investigated the accused persons’ case.
He said he knew the accused persons and could recall what happened on 1 October 2012. He said their office received directives from the CMC that the accused persons should be investigated in connection with the case of one Robert Danquah, a Ghanaian national, who was suspected of conspiring with some jailed drug dealers.
“I immediately instituted a panel which comprised three members including myself, and we invited them to our office and interrogated them,’’ he said.
He said after interrogation, the panel wrote a report about the investigation and forwarded it to the authority concerned.
ASP Cham said before the investigation started, statements were obtained from the accused persons and the affidavit allegedly written by the first accused person, Foday Barry.
The said affidavit was confirmed by the witness, and the prosecution applied to tender it in evidence.
However, the defence counsel, Ozuma, raised an objection to the tendering of the affidavit, citing relevant sections of the law to back his submission as to why the affidavit should not be tendered in evidence.
The trial magistrate upheld the objection of the defence counsel.
The case at that juncture was adjourned to 15 November 2012, for continuation of hearing.
The particulars of offence on count one stated that Alh. Foday Barry and Pa Habibou Mbye, between 2010 and 2012, in Banjul and divers places, within the jurisdiction of the court, with an apparent intent for deception, jointly conspired to defraud one Robert Danquah, an inmate in Mile 2 Central Prisons of D230,000.
Count two stated that Alh. Foday Barry, between 2010 and 2012, in Banjul and diverse places, within the jurisdiction of the court, stole an amount of D230,000 from one Robert Danquah, an inmate at the Mile 2 Central Prisons.
Furthermore, count three read that Alh. Foady Barry, between 2010 and 2012, in Banjul and diverse places, within the jurisdiction of the court, he swore to an affidavit to state that an amount of D850,000 was discovered with one Robert Danquah, a Ghanaian national instead of D108,000, which he knew to be false or does not believe to be true.
And count four stated that Alh. Foday Barry, between 2010 and 2012, in Banjul and diverse places, within the jurisdiction of the court, with intent to defraud, he uttered a false affidavit purposely for the extradition of Mr. Robert Danquah.