Revenue collector admits utilising council funds for personal matters

Madam Jatta appeared before a panel of inquisitive commissioners, counsels and investigators of the inquiry to give evidence in her capacity as council employer, specifically a revenue collector.

With an advanced diploma in IMIS from Strafford College in 2001, the Lamin resident informed commissioners that she first worked for the Janjanbureh Area Council as a Secretary in 1999 and was transferred to the Brikama Area Council as a secretary attached to the office of the chief executive officer (CEO) in 2001.

She voluntarily retired in 2006 due to family issues and successfully reapplied to return to the Brikama Area Council in 2016. She was employed at the rates unit as a collector and posted at Lamin and Mandinaring village, before she was later transferred to the unit for trade license covering Brikama Suma Kunda jurisdiction. Collectors attached to the trade license unit collect revenue from shopkeepers.

Proceedings intensified and progressed to explain the modus operandi of her work. She explained that before embarking on the collections, she does assessment of the shops within her area and charges them ranging from D1000 to D15,000.

Reacting to a question with regard to how assessments were done, she said she goes to the shops and obtains the names and contacts of the shopkeepers, adding that the amount charged would depend on the size of the shop and the values of the goods.

She said since 2018 to date, she received only 2 cashbooks – one for licensing and the other was for rates. She brought the one for the licensing before the commissioners but did not present the one for rates.

Counsel Patrick Gomez therefore asked her why she did not bring it. “I did not know that you will need it,” she said. Nonetheless, she was asked by the Commission to bring the rates cashbook.

Her license cashbook, covering 2022 to date, and her written statement of 23rd November 2023 were admitted into evidence.

The witness said she collects and keep the money with her until Thursdays when she goes to the bank to deposit her weekly collections at the BAC account at either Eco Bank or GT Bank. The Commission established that the witness collected D1,542,500 between April and July 2022.

She was informed about the internal audit finding against her regarding her collections during this period, as BAC internal auditors highlighted that the witness did not deposit D29,000.

She accepted the finding against her, explaining: “It is true. At that time I was sick and I was supposed to do an operation. So my work schedule was not consistent. I sometimes stayed for a week or more without going to work.”

“So you decided to use the money for your operation?” Counsel Gomez asked. The witness affirmed.

Moreover, Madam Jatta relayed that she applied for a loan of D70,000 but was given D40,000 by the council. She did not sign any documents for the loan, except for the request letter she sent regarding the loan.

"Mrs Jatta, you know what you did was wrong. This is public funds and you were supposed to deposit it in the bank. You were not supposed to use it," Counsel Patrick Gomez later said. She admitted that she was aware.

Furthermore, Anna Jatta claimed that she deposited all the sums of monies she collected but was confronted by Counsel Gomez with the cashbook and the bank deposits to show that there were huge sums of money she did not deposit in the accounts of BAC. She later admitted as such.

In one of the transactions in 2022, the Commission discovered that she collected D13,500 but D7,000 was deposited. In another transaction in August 2022, she collected D53,000 but deposited D52,000, showing a D1000 discrepancy. In the same month, evidence before the Commission shows that she collected D9,500 but deposited only D7,000.

Other transactions in the cashbook displayed similar trends. Left with no choice, Madam Jatta admitted that she was not depositing the whole sum.

Again, it was put to her that she collected D83,000 in June 2023 but deposited D40,000, which indicates a D43,000 balance.  She acknowledged as such and stated that she later deposited D15,000 and D13,500. However, she was told that they would still total to D68,500 and not the entire collected amount.

“What happened to the balance? Why would you have the balance? Why would you not deposit the whole money collected?” Counsel Gomez asked.

Anna said she “I used the money” but remained silent with regard to why she had done that.

“When I look at your cashbook, I see so many instances of shortages,” Counsel Gomez said. “You have shortages almost every time.”

"Yes," she said.