Two individuals, Manso Lamin Koroma (23 years old) and Sulaiman Sesay (31 years old), made their first appearance before Principal Magistrate Mark Ngegba of Court No.1 on Pademba Road in Freetown.

They faced five charges under Section 32 of the Larceny Act 1916 for conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretenses.

The police alleged that between August 1, 2022, and January 4, 2023, the accused conspired to defraud and obtained NLe103,000 from Sahr Gbondo, Isaac Momoh, and Mariama Mansaray in Tengbeh Town, Freetown.

They did this by falsely pretending to facilitate their travel to Canada. The charge sheet also stated that the defendants obtained NLe43,000 from Sahr Gbondo on the same day, again with the same false pretenses for his sisters’ travel to Canada.

The third count accused Manso Lamin Koroma of obtaining NLe20,000 from Mariama Mansaray on November 20, 2022. Meanwhile, the fifth count accused Sulaiman Sesay of fraudulently obtaining NLe40,000 from Isaac Momoh for his travel to Canada.

During the arraignment, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges. The prosecutor, ASP Ibrahim Mansaray, requested a date for the witnesses to testify.

As the accused were not represented in court, no bail application was made on their behalf. Consequently, they were remanded in custody until Tuesday, April 25, 2023