On Wednesday 23rd November 2022, Magistrate Isata Sellu Tucker of the Pademba Road respect Court No. 2 remanded Admira Abdullah to the Female Correctional Facility in Lunsar for alleged embezzlement.

The accused appeared before the court on six counts of embezzlement and four counts of larceny by a servant contrary to the laws of Sierra Leone.

It was alleged that the accused on the 3rd May 2019 and 28th May 2020, at Eco-Bank, Lunsar Branch in Marampa Chiefdom, Port Loko District, embezzled two hundred million Leones (Le200,000,000).

Testifying in court, the second prosecution witness, James M. Samai, attached to the E,conomic and Financial Fraud Unit (EFU) at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters, said he recognized the accused and recalled on 24 April 2020. He said he was at the aforesaid unit when he received a distress call from Eco-Bank, adding that he and Detective Sergeant Koroma N. M left for Ecobank at Charlotte Street in Freetown.

Samai continued that upon their arrival at ta the bank, they met the accused and that in his presence the accused admitted to misappropriating the said sum.

He said the cross-examined afterr was apprehended and conveyed to the CID headquarters for questioning.

The witness said statements were obtained from the complainant and witnesses, adding that the complainant later submitted them to him. Eco-Bank savings and withdrawal slips, copy of administration statement made by the accused in respect of the alleged fraudulent conversation

They were produced and tendered in court to form part of the court’s records and the account open mandate for customers’ documents was also tendered in court.

He narrated that on 24th April 2020, he and Detective Sergeant 9094 Koroma N.M obtained a voluntary caution statement from the accused, and during the investigation, the accused confessed to him that she had handed over one hundred million Leones to her fiancé, Sahr Bendo.
He said they went to Goderich in search of the aforesaid individual, but he was nowhere to be found.

“My Lady, due to the seriousness of the outbreak of COVID-19, the accused was put on bail as requested by the bank”, he said.

The witness concluded his evidence that on 12th October 2022, he charged the accused with six counts of embezzlement and four counts of larceny by a servant contrary to the laws of Sierra Leone.

The accused’s charged statement was tendered in court.

The witness was cross-examined by palm Defense Counsel M.B. Koroma on behalf of the accused person and he later applied for bail for her, but she was denied.

The matter was adjourned to Tuesday 29th November 2022.