By Janet A Sesay
Charity Adiza, the Manager of Bayruff International Worldwide which is located at Spur Loop in Freetown, on Friday 28th February 2020 appeared before Magistrate Hannah Bonnie of the Pademba Road Court No.1.
It is being alleged that he obtained monies from different people on the pretext that he would facilitate their travelling to Dubai to secure jobs.
Led in evidence by A.S.P Ibrahim Mansaray the witness, Ahmed Sheku Musa, told the court that he recognized the accused person in the dock. He recalled that sometime in 2017 when a certain organization, belonging to the accused, made an advertisement that they needed people to travel to Dubai to secure jobs.
The advert had also indicated that interested individuals should pay the sum of $1, 500 to the organization through their Guarantee Trust Bank account.
The court was told that the notice had also assured interested applicants that on making such payments, they would subsequently travel to Lungi to undertake trainings on the type of jobs they would want to engage in when eventually they arrived in Dubai.
The witness told the court that they paid the sum of $857 to the organization and committed to pay the balance later.
He said after making the said payment, the company took them to Lungi where they spent two weeks on different training skills on the kind of job they would do in Dubai.
The witness continued that they later returned to Freetown after the two weeks training.
Ahmed continued that after the training, the accused requested for another $75,000 for him to travel to Senegal to collect their visas but he had replied that he did not have any money left.
The witness further recounted that after sometime, he did not hear any progress from the accused with regards the project and that this prompted him to request a refund of his money.
The accused, he went on, refused and that he had no option but to report the matter to the police and later made a statement.
Other witnesses also took the witness stand and testified on the same issue.
The accused person was arraigned on six counts of obtaining money by false pretences contrary to section 32(1) of the Larceny Act 1916.
The particulars of offence indicated that the accused person sometime in 2017 in Freetown, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of $3,375 equivalent to thirty-three million, six hundred and fifty thousand Leones (Le33,650,000) from different people with the pretext of facilitating their traveling to Dubai for job purpose knowing same to be false.
The accused person is on bail and the matter was adjourned to 10th March 2020.