Although Lamin Sanneh, a revenue collector at the Brikama market, stated that he does not have a personal account with Vista Bank, the Commission gave him access to his bank account information as proof that he had lied to the body in question.

The witness did not provide an accounting for numerous collections that he made. It was found by the Commission that he had saved certain amounts in his personal accounts. The witness argued that he is not the owner of the accounts in spite of this. His proof is that, rather than using his own account at Vista Bank, he solely travels there to deposit money he has gathered for the Council. After being allowed access to the account, he declared that it was in his name after reviewing it. He persisted in saying that he does not possess a Vista Bank account.

“I don’t own any shares in Vista Bank. All I have is a current account that I use for my salary. additional than that, I have no additional accounts,” the witness stated.

Deposit papers for money deposited in his own account were in the witness’s possession.

“So, who is the account owner?” Leader Attorney Patrick Gomez enquired.

The witness’s response was, “I’m not sure.”

He claimed that the revenue collectors typically have their Market Master Yankuba Kujabi open a bank account where they deposit their earnings.

The following deposits were made into the witness’s name-bearing account: D4000 on June 9, 2022; D3280 on June 16, 2022; and D12,000 on August 1, 2022.

Witness Sanneh was informed by Chairperson Jainaba Bah that the Commission will write the bank to verify the account opening facts. She threatened to prosecute him under the law if they discovered that he had lied. Sanneh, the witness, continued to insist that he does not have a personal account with Vista Bank.

Patrick Gomez, the lead counsel, kept asking questions. He concentrated on the invoices that the witness had received from Lamin Kantong Kanteh, the principal cashier of the Brikama Area Council.

The dates on the six GTR receipts were October 18, 2022, D11,700; September 8, 2022, D4000; February 10, 2022, D7205; January 24, 2022, D12,900; January 31, 2022, D12,850; and February 17, 2022, D6875.

The witness was informed by Counsel Gomez that the GTRs signified his collection and deposit of revenue into the Council’s account. The witness concurred and stated that money was transferred from the Vista bank account to the BAC accounts.

The witness stated that his cash book does not contain the recordings of those collections. In his testimony, he said that he lacked any documentation demonstrating the collections he had made at those times.

The witness explained that at the time, they were utilizing a computerized revenue collection system, and he believed the machine was maintaining the records of the transactions when he was asked why he did not save the records. Counsel Gomez rejected this assertion, stating that the witness continued to retain the records in his cash book and had been utilizing the gadget to collect money in 2021. The witness thought the device was recording the information, therefore the counsel suggested he could not come to 2022 and stop recording the transactions he was making. The witness was informed by Chairperson Jainaba Bah that he had received training prior to operating the revenue collection device. He attested to its veracity. The witness stated in his testimony that he came up with the concept to not preserve records.

The BAC Vista Bank account was given to the witness so that he could review the deposits made at those times. He attested to the fact that his deposits were not shown on the account statement as stated. He doesn’t have any bank slips, despite being requested to look for them.

The witness maintained that he had the bank slips and should be allowed time to look for them, even though he was unable to provide evidence to support his assertion that he had placed the money in the Council’s account.

Counsel Gomez stated, “You have to produce it; otherwise, it only means you stole the money if you cannot show proof of it being deposited in the bank.”

“No,” the witness retorted. The money was not stolen by me. The entire Council is aware that’s not how I normally do things.

Attorney Gomez advised the witness to give an accounting for the funds upon his next appearance.

The witness asserted that he had made up the shortfall he had noted. He stated that he deposited D6725 into the GTBank account of the Brikama Area Council.