By Jeneba A Conteh
In court proceedings on Tuesday, May 7th, three employees of Bloom Bank Africa and a nurse found themselves before Magistrate Santigie Bangura of the Pademba Road Court No.2 in Freetown, facing charges of embezzling over two hundred million Leones from the bank.
Kofi Adu Apenteng, Joseph Amadu Bangura, Almedette Olive, and Nurse Sento Momoh stood accused of multiple offenses, including conspiracy to defraud and causing money to be paid with intent to deceive.
The allegations stemmed from incidents between December 15th and 18th, 2023, at Bloom Bank Africa’s branch on Kissy Road in Freetown. It was alleged that the defendants conspired to defraud the bank of four thousand United States dollars, equivalent to ninety-four thousand Leones.
Additionally, they were accused of facilitating false withdrawals from an account held by Enrico Walter, totaling one thousand United States dollars on December 15th and three thousand United States dollars on December 18th.
Pleading not guilty, the accused were represented by lead defense counsel T.M Conteh and M Bangura. Conteh informed the court of ongoing negotiations with the bank to address the accusations, while Bangura proposed a plan to repay half of the alleged amount immediately, with the remainder to be paid by the next adjourned date.
The specifics of the repayment amount were not disclosed but were expected to be communicated to the court at a later time.
Prosecuting the case was DSP Sorie Conteh. Magistrate Bangura scheduled the next hearing for May 14th, 2024.
