By: Audrey Raymonda John
Sheku Jimmy (40), a supervisor language officer; Hassan Kamara (38), a cashier; and Mohamed Kamara (41), also a cashier, made another appearance before Magistrate Mary Julian Gbloh at the Pademba Road Magistrate Court No. 5 in Freetown. They are facing two counts: Conspiracy to Defraud and Embezzlement contrary to Section 17(1)(b) of the Larceny Act of 1916.
According to court documents, between February 12 and April 1, 2025, at the Lungi International Airport terminal in the Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom, Port Loko Judicial District, the accused allegedly conspired with unknown individuals to defraud Sea Coach Express.
On the second count, the accused are alleged to have embezzled sixty-three Sea Coach tickets, each valued at $45, totaling 73,710 new Leones, which they received without authorization from Sea Coach Express management.
When the charges were read and explained to them, no plea was taken.
Prosecution witness number two, Micah Tanimu, a technician and operations manager at Sea Coach Express, was led in evidence by Sergeant 5598 Santigie Koroma. Tanimu stated that he recognized all the accused and recalled testifying previously about an Orange Money transaction related to the case.
He said he took a screenshot of the transaction, which was produced in court and tendered as Exhibit Z. According to his testimony, he, the IT officer, and the first accused went to a quiet location at the Lungi terminal. There, the first accused called an individual named Mr. Bangura. The call, which was recorded, involved discussions about the tickets.
The witness further stated that, upon reviewing the first accused’s mobile phone, they discovered that Mr. Bangura had sent two Sea Coach tickets to him. Screenshots of those tickets were produced in court for identification and added to the case record.
Following this, they proceeded to the Sea Coach head office in Aberdeen for further investigation. While at the office, the accused were asked to wait. Within five minutes, however, the accused reportedly fled the scene. The matter was subsequently reported at the Aberdeen Police Station, where a formal statement was obtained from the witness.
At this stage, the prosecutor requested a short adjournment to allow time for the audio recording of the call to be formally tendered in court.
Magistrate Mary Julian Gbloh adjourned the matter to July 8, 2025, for continued hearing. Bail was continued for the accused persons.