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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Feb 2012 : 21:15:40
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DAILY OBSERVER NEWS;
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 19 Mar 2012 : 04:49:03
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DAILY OBSERVER NEWS;
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 22 Mar 2012 : 23:03:30
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DAILY OBSERVER NEWS;
THE POINT NEWS;
"Tumbul Danso, former managing director of the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation, SSHFC, was yesterday cross-examined by the defence counsel in the ongoing economic crime case involving one Mam sait Njie at the Special Criminal Court in Banjul.
Under cross-examination, Mr. Danso told the court that he was the managing director of the SSHFC at the time, and did serve two tenures as the corporation’s MD.
He said his first term was from 2006 to 2009, and his second term was from January to March 2011.
“I knew the accused, and I know the joint venture between the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation, concerning the Lamin-Makumbaya land project. I was the MD at the time of the application for the housing project,” he added.
He also said he was there untill the application was approved.
At that juncture, he was shown the application of the housing project which the witness identified, adding that he was the addressee of the application.
The project application document was tendered and admitted as an exhibit.
The witness further told the court he could not say that the application was the precursor of the transaction between the SSHFC and the accused, adding that he was aware of the joint venture between the SSHFC and the accused.
The witness recognized the original application through his signature, which was also tendered and marked as an exhibit.
Still testifying, Mr. Danso said,“I signed exhibit (C3) which was specifically for Lamin-Makumbaya housing project, and was 300 plots of land.”
He told the court that each plot was supposed to be sold for D100,000, as contained in the agreement, and the plot sizes were specified and the price was also specified.
He added that the corporation had the obligation under the agreement to pay the tax on the project land, and the joint venture was the overall agreement.
He stated that the land originally was owned by the accused person, but it was later surrendered to the SSHFC, adding that the project should generate nothing less that D50 million and that was why it was approved and the service land would be sold at a high price.
Mr. Danso further said that at the time the land was surrendered to SSHFC, it was an empty land and that he would not be able to say that the SSHFC did not perform all it obligations under the agreement, and could not tell whether SSHFC had paid the capital gains tax for the accused person.
The case at that juncture was adjourned till 27 March 2012, for judgment." |
Edited by - kobo on 22 Mar 2012 23:04:03 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 29 Mar 2012 : 18:29:37
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FOROYAA NATIONAL NEWS;
DAILY OBSERVER NEWS;
"Wednesday, March 28, 2012
The Special Criminal Court in Banjul, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Nkea, yesterday March 27th 2012, found Mam Sait Njie, a businessman guilty on a single count charge of economic crime filed in against him by the state.
He was charged with the offence of failure to pay the sum of D4.5M as a capital gain tax accruing from the sale of 300 plots of land located in Lamin Village, Kombo North District of the West Coast Region to the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC), thereby caused an economic loss to the government of The Gambia, but he flatly denied this allegation on grounds of what he called the discount he offered to the said SSHFC for the purpose of paying the said capital gain tax in question.
The High Court Judge accordingly convicted and sentenced him to pay a fine of D300,000 (three hundred thousand dalasis) compensation to the state in default to serve three years in prison. He was also ordered to pay the sum of D4.5M for the tax evasion as contained in the charge sheet pressed against him, in default to serve six years in prison.
The Special Criminal Court Judge’s decision was contained in a judgment he delivered on the case after months of marathon trial, characterised with receiving of evidence from several prosecution witnesses, including cross-examination of the former managing director of SSHFC, Tumbul Danso and receipt of evidence from the convict Mam Sait Njie.
The judge made reference to the history of the case brought before him on a single count charge of economic crime filed in by the state against the accused, the denial of the charge by the accused person, which paved the way for opening of the prosecution’s case and documents tendered by the prosecution as part of efforts meant to support its case against the accused person.
He said the accused opened his defence at the end of the closure of the prosecution’s case and several documents were tendered through him by the team of defence counsel, especially the document relating a purported discount offered to SSHFC for payment of a capital gain tax.
Justice Nkea cited different decided cases with respect to the need for the prosecution to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubts against an accused person in a criminal case and in the circumstances, the prosecution has made a prima facie case against the accused. The court, he said has found the accused guilty on the charge against him, hence convicting him for the offence.
This statement sent LS Camara representing the team of defence counsel to commence a detailed plea mitigation on behalf of the convict, Mam Sait Njie, who was at the time standing still in the dock, mute and looking directly at the presiding judge.
Plea of mitigation
Lamin Camara urged the court to temper justice with mercy on the convict, Mam Sait Njie, whom he described as a 62-year-old, married with a wife and blessed with five children, his youngest child being 12 years old.
The defence further pleaded with the court to exercise its discretion by imposing a fine instead of custodial sentence on the convict. He backed up his plea with citation of what he called genuine disposition of the convict, whom he said is a true Muslim, generous and a philanthropist with awards received from both the government of The Gambia and the Republic of Senegal in recognition of his philanthropic support rendered to the people of the said countries.
According to the defence counsel, Mam Sait Njie got an award from the Republic of Senegal in connection to an invaluable services he rendered to the victims of the ‘Bateau Le-Jola’ Ship, which capsized in the river Gambia some years ago. The defence said Mam Sait Njie has created a total of 300 jobs in his Makumbaya farm, a farm jointly sponsored by the Commonwealth and the European Commission, besides he held various positions in numerous associations and organisations across the country.
Lawyer Camara added that the convict has once served as chairman of the Gambia Fishing Company Association, deputy chairman of the Cars Rental Association, among others with numerous people benefiting from his philanthropic gestures across the country.
“My Lord, this convict is a prominent member of his Mosque Committee. He is a man of generous heart and has rendered valuable services to the people of the country, especially business communities across the country and he was found to be very remorseful throughout the course of the trial. The convict believes, everything in this world is abounded. I stand before this court to say the convict is a man of good character with no bad record in his life,” Lamin Camara pleaded with the court.
Still narrating his words of plea mitigation with the court, Lawyer Camara urged the court with a passionate plea to impose a fine instead of custodial on the convict, cognizant of the offence charged and provisions made in the Economic Crime Act, which provided among others, recovery of the loss sum and other conditions of fine, instead of a custodial sentence.
He made reference to Sections 46, 6 (1) and 6 (3) of the Economic Crime Act and the punishments enshrined therein with regards to imposition of a fine and recovery of the loss sum to the state. The defence counsel also cited Section 29th of the Criminal Code, Laws of The Gambia, which he said also made similar provisions for imposition of a fine instead of custodial inline with discretion of the court.
Drawing closer to his plea mitigation, the defence counsel called on the presiding Judge to exercise lenience on the convict and he did not hesitate to draw the attention of the court to what he called the wider latitude available to the court to temper justice with mercy. He cited Section 5 of the Economic Crime Act, with respect to what he said placing of a time limit for payment of the fine and such a time could meant even up to six years duration.
Sentence
The judge said, he listened very carefully to the plea mitigation advanced by the defence counsel, but he also took into consideration the seriousness of tax evasion and its impact on economies across the globe, including both developed and developing countries like The Gambia.
He said the issue of tax evasion has to be addressed with all immediate effects so as to protect economies of the world, considering the current economic crisis and its impact on lives of people of the world.
“I observed that the convict is a first time offender as forwarded by the defence counsel and the convict is a seasoned gentleman, who has shown remorse before the court, but I must impose a severe punishment on him so as to avert future occurrence of such a crime in the country,” Justice Nkea explained and therein sentenced him to pay the mentioned fine and pay the said sum in question.
However, shortly after the judgement, Mam Sait Njie was seen relating to his friends, colleagues and associates, while standing outside of the courtroom, but he was taken to the Mile 2 Prison to finalise his release.
Author: Sanna Jawara & Sidiq Asemota" |
Edited by - kobo on 29 Mar 2012 18:58:50 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2012 : 11:08:42
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INTERESTING QUOTE SNIPPED FROM FREEDOM NEWS TODAY (14/06/2012);
quote:
"Next, we will explain how some Ukrainian so called investors duped President Jammeh with millions of dalasi after cashing out fake checks at the Trust Bank Gambia Limited. Jammeh was fooled about the 25 Million Euro Fertilizer Plant, which was supposed to be built in Sifoe by the investors. He was introduced to the investors by Mam Sait Njie. That is one of the reasons why Jammeh is mad with Mam Sait. http://allafrica.com/stories/201007270091.html
The investors left the country without settling unpaid bills at the Sheraton Hotel, where Mam Sait met them. They were able to trick Jammeh to allow them to cash out fake checks in the millions.
When they initially wanted to cash the checks, Trust Bank had asked them to wait until the checks were cleared before releasing the payments, but the fool Jammeh was inspired by the investors “big talks” about a major investment for the Gambia to compel the Bank management to okay the checks. The bank MD Pa Njie was shocked by the "dishonored checks."
Guess what? After releasing the funds, two days later, the checks bounced back. The dictator became berserk. The Ukrainians had already left the Gambia. The Sifoe project is gathering dust. There is no fishing project up till this day! That’s price of having a dumb President!
Mam Sait was forced to pay the money by Jammeh. The dictator has so far collected D19 Million from Mam Sait. Tumbul Danso, a former SSFHC boss, bought Mam's plots of land that was dispose for sale on behalf of the SSHFC! Jammeh bankrupt Mam Sait."
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Edited by - kobo on 14 Jun 2012 11:16:02 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2012 : 03:15:22
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FREEDOM FLASH NEWS;
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2012 : 16:33:21
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| It is widely believed that the rogue president schemed to strip Mr Njie off his land possessions as compromise. Does anyone know ? |
Karamba |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 22 Oct 2012 : 23:25:01
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THE POINT NEWS;
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| Bantaba in Cyberspace |
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