Marabout, maid in d2m jewellery theft case

Isatou Corr a maid and Sulayman Jarra a marabout were yesterday arraigned at the Kanifing Magistrates' Court before senior magistrate Abdoulie Mbacke for conspiracy and stealing.

Isatou Corr who pleaded guilty to both counts was said to have conspired with Sulayman Jarra, the marabout, who pleaded not guilty to stealing a vanity box containing jewellery worth D2m, being the property of one Fatima Alami.

A 3rd accused person, Buna Mangasuba, who also pleaded not guilty, was alleged to have received from Isatou Corr an amount of D80,000 being proceeds from the sale of the items stolen, to assist her to leave the country for Senegal.

Meanwhile, in judgment delivered by the court, the 1st accused Isatou Corr who subsequently pleaded guilty was sentenced to one year on each of the counts with hard labour. She was also ordered to compensate the complainant with two million dalasis in default to serve another one year. The court also gave an order that she should be deported to her native country after completing serving her sentence. Both sentences are to run consecutively.

The facts of the case against Isatou Corr, as narrated by the police prosecutor, ASP Sanneh are as follows:

On 19th June 2009, the complainant received a container from China. It was while unloading the container that the first accused, who was a maid to the complainant, got access to the complainant's house keys. She subsequently went into the complainant's house and stole the vanity box containing jewellry, and hid it in the flowers, then disappeared to Dippa Kunda to her boyfriend, one Abdoulie Joof, who is now at large. The prosecutor added that the moment the complainant discovered that her jewellery box was missing, she immediately rushed to Kairaba Police Station and reported the matter.

ASP Sanneh further narrated that Isatou Corr and her boyfriend visited Sulayman Jarra, and Isatou Corr asked the marabout to use means to enable her get the jewellery box out of the complainant's compound.

The second accused did some of his marabout work, and then accompanied Isatou Corr and Abdoulie Joof at 2 am to retrieve the vanity box from the flowers at the compound of Ms Alami. Sulayman Jarra, according to the police prosecutor, aided Isatou Corr to climb over the fence to collect the vanity box, and later they left for the marabout's residence were the box was opened.

He added that a quarter of the items was given to the marabout, Sulayman Jarra, while Isatou Corr and her boyfriend, Abdoulie Joof, left with the remaining items and proceeded to Senegal where they disposed off the items.

The complainant mounted her own investigations, after she got information that Isatou Corr did communicate with Buna Mangasuba from Senegal. The complainant promised Mangasuba a reward if he assists her in getting Isatou Corr arrested.

The 3rd accused then supplied the complainant with the telephone number of Isatou Corr, as a result of which the complainant, with the help of the Interpol, embarked on tracing Isatou Corr and Abdoulie Joof in Senegal.

With the help of the Senegalese Interpol, Isatou Corr was arrested, but nothing was recovered from her, and she was escorted back to The Gambia. During interrogation by the police fraud squad, she confessed to stealing the vanity box containing the jewellery and further told the investigators that some of the proceeds from the sale of the jewellery were given to her boyfriend, Abdoulie Joof, who is still at large.

Isatou Corr also told the police that she gave a total of D80,000 to the 3rd accused being proceeds realised from the sale of the stolen items.

ASP Sanneh revealed that the value of the jewellery stolen was D2m.