#Headlines

D150,000 visa case lands in court

Jul 1, 2021, 2:07 PM | Article By: Dawda Faye

Modou Lamin Ceesay, plaintiff, has dragged Ablie Bah, defendant, to the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court for the recovery of the sum of D104,000 which the former claimsis the balance owed from the sum of D150,000 he gave to the latter to procure a visa for him. The defendant denied liability before Principal Magistrate Isatou Janneh-Njie.

Modou Lamin Ceesay, who was represented by lawyer Janneh, also claimed the sum of D65,000 as damages for losses incurred as a result of the breach of contract.

He claimed D25,000 as general damages, and cost of action and any further reliefs that the Honourable  Court may deem fit to make.

The plaintiff stated in his claim that he paid a total sum of D150,000 to the defendant based on a consent agreement that the defendant shall secure a Canadian visa for the plaintiff.

He further claimed that the defendant returned the plaintiff’s Gambian passport to him and claimed that it contains the said visa.

Modou Lamin Ceesay posited further that upon receiving the passport which the defendant made f him to believe contains the said visa, he bought an air ticket but was refused at the airport where he was informed that the visa got an issue and he could not be allowed to pass.

The plaintiff adduced that the defendant later assured him that if he goes via Senegal he would pass, but there too, the Senegalese authorities declared the visa to be fake.

He stated that after considering the issue and losing two air tickets amounting to D65,000 and other expenses levied for trying to acquire an easy pass in The Gambia and travelling up to Dakar, Senegal, he decided to pursue the defendant to recover his monies.

The plaintiff further claimed that he has been pursuing the defendant who could not deny the said visa to be fake since 2016 without any reasonable progress to recover the said amount in full, and as such, the plaintiff was therefore left with no other option than to seek remedy from the Honourable Court, and inclusively claimed general damages levied at D25,000 for other expenses incurred in the pursuit, waste of time and emotional distress.

The case was adjourned for the plaintiff to tell the court what exactly transpired between him and the defendant.

Lawyer Gomez represented the defendant.