Chased from his home, Saliou Bah is “taken in” by his friend, Alpha Ousmane Diallo. This unemployed graduate, converted into a taxi driver, took advantage of his benefactor’s inattention to memorize his Orange Money code. Having made a withdrawal of more than 8 million Guinean francs, Saliou Bah will later be arrested. Tried for fraud and theft, Saliou Bah was at the helm of the Dixinn court yesterday, Tuesday August 30, 2022, noted a reporter that Guineematin.com had dispatched to the scene.
At first, the defendant at the bar before Judge Mohamed Keita first started by denying the facts. But, over time, Saliou Bah ended up recognizing the charges against him, before explaining the circumstances in which he allegedly committed the offenses against him.
“Yes, I admit having taken Ousmane’s secret code. I withdrew 8 million 900 thousand Guinean francs from his Orange Money account. One Wednesday, after the Tabaski party, we were back from Coyah where I had accompanied him to visit some plots he had bought there. That evening, without his knowledge, I withdrew 8 million 900 thousand Guinean francs from his Orange Money number. On the night of Thursday to Friday, he called me to tell me that he understood that I had withdrawn his money from his account. He asked me to return them to him… I had used the same method to withdraw 2 million Guinean francs also from the account of a woman who was our dealer. As for the scam, it’s true. Ousmane had given me 3 million Guinean francs representing an advance on our rent. I used all that amount too,” Saliou Bah explained bluntly.
In turn, Alpha Ousmane Diallo, the plaintiff, returned to the same facts practically. “At one point, Saliou had been driven out of his accommodation. He came to stay with me. One day he accompanied me to Coyah where I bought some plots. I had to give money to the person to whom I entrusted the plots. It was on this day that he managed to see the code for my Orange Money account. As soon as we got back to Conakry, when I was tired, he asked me to give him my phone to make a call. He took this opportunity to withdraw 8 million 900 thousand Guinean francs from my Orange Money account. I had 12 million and something in the account. And that money was not mine. When I realized this, I called him to tell him to bring my money back. For several days I called him but sometimes he wouldn’t pick up the phone. After that, he went to Mamou. I went to the DPJ and they located him in Mamou where they got hold of him. Then we transferred him to Conakry. When asked where the money is, he told us he used it,” he said.
After his narration of the facts, Alpha Ousmane Diallo requested the return of his money, namely 8 million 900 thousand GNF withdrawn from the Orange Money account and 3 million GNF embezzled. He will also seek payment of 3 million GNF in damages. “I ask for the restitution of my 8 million 900 thousand francs, my 3 million for the rents and the 3 million that I spent for his arrest. That’s all I ask,” the victim said.
The court sent the case back to next week for requisitions, pleadings and deliberation.
Mamadou Laafa Sow for Guineematin.com