By Janet A. Sesay
The Director of Professional Standards, at the Sierra Leone Police, (AIG) Brima Jah, on Monday 5th July 2021 testified before Magistrate Sahr Kekura of Court No.1 against AIG Samuel Saio Kanu during a preliminary investigation of forty thousand United States dollars theft allegation.
Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Suliaman Banja Tejan Sie, the witness recognized the accused as the Officer Commanding the Special Bureau at the police force.
He told the court that, on the 23rd July, 2020, he was on duty when he got information about Sierra Pam Hotel at Lumley Beach. Based upon the information, he called the accused on his mobile phone and instructed him to organize a team of detectives at the Central Police Station and meet him at Police Headquarters. When they arrived, they headed straight to the Sierra Pam Hotel at Lumley Beach.
He said, at the hotel, they met two Indian men and one Senegalese man. He said they asked them whether they were in possession of $10,000, which was the sum they were to collect from them, but they responded that they only have $150,000 with them.
Brima Jah furthered that he then instructed the officers, including the accused, to conduct a search at the rooms occupied by the men. After concluding the search, $160,000, five gold bars, testing and melting machines for gold were discovered at the room.
The said items, he said, were recorded, whiles the accused and other police officers signed the search warrant, but the Indians and Senegalese man refused to sign the search warrant.
However they took the said items and arrested the suspects. Himself and the police officers, including the accused, returned to the Police Headquarters.
He said, upon their return to the station, he led the other officers, including the accused and the items, together with the suspects to the Inspector General of Police, Ambrose Michael Sovula, who was briefed about the operation. In turn, he asked them to brief him again when the investigation was done.
He said the said exhibits and the search warrant were handed over to the accused in front of Superintendent Johnny Walker, attached to the Finance Department, Police Headquarters. The suspects were taken to the Central Police Station for further investigations.
He said, on the 24th and 25th June 2021, nothing was heard concerning the suspects. He however called the accused, through his mobile phone, and asked him to meet him at his office and brief him on the matter. But the accused told him he was onboard a vehicle to the provinces.
He said, on the following day, he called the accused again, but he told him that he was in Makeni.
“I told him I was expecting him to be at my office in three hours, but the accused never showed up,” he said.
He added that, on the 26th June, the accused called him and told him that $40,000 had been stolen from the money by an officer called by Caesar Foday Bangura.
“I summoned the accused to my office and repeated the same words to him. I reminded him that he was given $160,000, five gold bars and one testing and melting machine to keep. I told the accused that I was going to enquire how the money got missing,” he told the bench. He said he asked Johnny Walker at the Finance Department, but was told that they had asked the accused to record the serial numbers of the money on a piece of paper in the office, but he opted to do it in his office at the Central Police Station.
He said that the accused left with a statement that he was going in search of Caesar whom he alleged stole the money.
He said, on the 12th August, 2020, he made a report at the Police Complain Board, where he revealed that the accused had failed to produce the original search warrant, which was in his possession, but he is yet to produce the $40,000 which he had allegedly stolen.
At the end of his testimony, Magistrate Sahr Kekura advised that the cross examination should be deferred because of the spate of COVID-19.
The accused is on bail and the matter was adjourned to the 14th July 2021.