By: Audrey Raymonda John
Musa Joseph Sesay, the Human Resource Officer (HR) at Bloom Bank Sierra Leone Limited, and Joshua Gbanyah, a student at the College of Digital Excellence (CODE), appeared before Magistrate Shar Kekura at Pademba Road Court No. 1 on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, following allegations of embezzling six hundred and nineteen thousand Leones (NLe 619,000) from the bank.
Sesay and Gbanyah face a total of forty-two charges, including conspiracy, larceny by servant, causing money to be paid by false pretenses, and forgery of documents, all in violation of Sierra Leone’s laws.
According to the indictment, between January 2, 2023, and March 31, 2024, Sesay, in his capacity as HR Officer, is accused of misappropriating funds intended for the payment of electricity bills (EDSA) on multiple occasions. Gbanyah is accused of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to facilitate the payment of NLe 619,000 to Tamba Pessima, whom he falsely presented as an EDSA agent to Bloom Bank.
Additionally, Gbanyah is alleged to have forged documents from CODE, including a statement of results bearing his name and ID number, which police claim to have been falsified.
After the charges were read and explained to the accused, no plea was taken. Initially, both accused were arraigned on twenty-four charges, but the prosecutor, ASP Ibrahim Mansaray, requested an adjournment for an amendment of the charges. The Magistrate granted this request, which resulted in the total number of charges being increased to forty-two.
Defense counsel, Charles Pujeh, objected, pointing out that the accused were originally arraigned on twenty-four charges and questioned the addition of new charges. Magistrate Kekura clarified that the prosecutor only sought to amend the charge sheet to change the dates, not to add new charges.
The prosecutor, ASP Ibrahim Mansaray, requested another adjournment to seek further clarification from the bank.
The accused are currently on bail, and the matter has been adjourned to March 28, 2025.
