By Feima Sesay
Patrick Abubakarr Moore, 29yrs old Banker was on Tuesday 19 April 2022 sent to the Sierra Leone Correctional Center over an alleged theft at United Bank of Africa (UBA).
The accused made his first appearance before Magistrate Sahr Keikura of Pademba road court No.1 in Freetown on six count charges ranging from Larceny by servant contrary to section 17 (1) (a) of the Larceny Act 1916 and other related offences.
According to the particulars of offence, the accused on diverse dates between 23rd March 2018 and 21st March 2022 at the united Bank of Africa (UBA) the western area in Freetown being a servant employed as Acting head of domestic operations by the United Bank of Africa main branch at No.9 Charlotte Street in Freetown Stole the sum of two hundred and sixty two million, forty two thousand, one hundred and sixty seven Leones, twelve cents(262,042,162.12) which he posted into savings account No.540620520003171 and later using the bank mobile app platform transfer same to your wallet, property of the said bank.
The police further alleged on count two that the accused on a date between 1st June 2020 and 21st March 2022 at the said bank stole the sum of four hundred and fifty seven million, three and twenty eight thousand, one hundred and ninety four Leones fifteen cents(457,328,194.15) which he posted into the said account.
On count three it was alleged that the accused on the 26th January 2022 and 24th March 2022 at the said office stole the sum of one hundred and twenty two million and fifty five thousand, nine hundred and fifty one Leones, Forty seven cents (122,055,951.47) posted into the said account.
Count four added that the accused on a date between 1st June 2020 and 21st March 2022 stole the sum of twenty million one hundred and forty nine thousand and twenty seven Leones, Fort two cents(20,149,277.42) posted into the said account.
The particulars of offence for count five state that the accused on diverse date between 28th January 2022 and 24th March 2022 stole the sum of twenty nine million three hundred and sixteen thousand, six hundred and fifty two Leones(29,316,652.00) posted into the said account whiles count six state that the accused on diverse dates between 18th June 2021 and 23rd March 2022 stole the sum of two hundred and thirty four million, one hundred and seventy seven thousand, one hundred and sixteen Leones and three cents(234,177,166.03) posted into the said account.
The charges were read and explained to the accused person in court but no plea was taken.
Counsel representing the accused person Charles I Williams applied for bail on behalf of the accused person that he is a Sierra Leonean resident within this jurisdiction that he has reliable sureties who are willing and ready to enter into recognizance on his behalf, adding that he is not a flight risk nor will he interfere with prosecution witness or witnesses. He made his application pursuant to section 79 (2) of the Criminal procedure Act No.32 of 1965
However Magistrate Keikura refused bail and adjourned the matter to the 25th April 2022 for further hearing
Assistant Superintendent of police Christiana Davies Cole is Prosecuting the matter.
Pres. Bio Inspects Development Projects in Bonthe
His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio has completed a conducted tour of works at water supply sites, mini-grids and roads projects being executed in the Bonthe Township by entities under the supervision of the Ministries of Energy, Works and Water Resources.
At the Bonthe Water Supply Project sites, fully funded by the Government of Sierra Leone, the President was greeted and taken around by Minister of Water Resources, Ing. Philip Karimu Lansana, the Board Chairman of the Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO), Ing.
Mohamed Alieu Jalloh, Managing Director, Ing. George Lamin Vandi, Deputy Managing Director, Albert Harrison Harvey and the SALWACO team.
Other ongoing projects included those of the Ministry of Energy, delivering on green energy solutions and mini-grid electrification and the Ministry of Works, through its Sierra Leone Roads Authority, working on roads construction. The President also visited and motivated the teaching staff and students of the Bonthe Technical College, now affiliated to Njala University, a rural comprehensive public research university with its main campus in Njala and another in Bo.
It could be recalled that on 19 June 2021 Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, symbolically erected electricity poles on the Island to mark the physical commencement of the Bonthe City Electrification Project.
He said, at the time, that the Bonthe Island project was behind other township electrification projects in implementation because it was among the second set of towns approved for the project. He had, however, assured that with the erection of poles, contractors were going to accelerate the process of implementation.
RCB Glorifies S/Leoneans with Easter Message
For Christians, Easter is a reinforcement of their faith through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It has remained one of the most significant events in the Christian Calendar. For non-Christians too, Easter is a celebration of love, kindness and sharing. Therefore, as a religious tolerant nation, Sierra Leoneans celebrate Easter like we do for other religious festivals like Christmas and Ramadan. This is because, the spirit of Easter is all about hope, love, sharing and joyful living.
The Rokel Commercial Bank is wishing the Government, people of Sierra Leone and our esteemed customers a happy and joyous Easter Celebrations.
As we say thanks for your remarkable support so far, we remain committed to our core values of maintaining lasting and satisfying relationships with our customers, employees, shareholders and the communities we operate. We’ve been quite astute in adhering to our corporate social responsibility because we believe that we have a role to play in supporting the communities we operate in. We also believe, it has the fall-back of bringing in business for us as a bank. By touching the lives of people in the environment where we stay, we can have people feeling more inclined to do account opening, financial transactions through the bank and also to be able to see the bank as a partner in development and as a partner in business.
As we realign our operations to meet new market demands, we have become significantly flexible but highly securitized to make your banking the most pleasant experience.
We have deployed a new core banking system that has invariably climaxed the most ambitious digitalization programme ever seen in the history of Sierra Leone’s banking industry. Today, our customers have the feel- good factor of sitting in the comfort of their homes to carry out banking transactions of all kinds.
All this is made possible through the support you have given us since we launched an ambitious programme to transform the Rokel Commercial Bank from a loss making to a profit making as well as a forward-looking modern financial institution.
Yes, our appetite to expand is insatiable! Less than two months ago, two new branches have sprung up at Kissy in the East end of Freetown and Tongo Fields in Kenema District. These new branches reinforce our goal to promote financial inclusion, increase our customer base and profit margins. They will add to several other branches and outlets established in locations like Bonthe, Moyamba, Kailahun, Wilberforce, Wilkinson Road, FBC etc.
In the same vein, whilst our Rokel Simkorpor outlets across the country have proven to be optimally potent as an innovative platform, we are equally optimistic that, our SME portfolio – targeting the informal sector is changing lives to complement Government’s efforts at reducing poverty and unemployment. To date, nearly 1,000 youths have benefitted from our Okada and Kekeh loans.
As we brace up to roll out the new currency denomination, we encourage all and sundry to remain hopeful with a clear sense of purpose and resourcefulness. With this positive outlook, our dream of achieving the Millennium Development Goal of a middle income country by 2035 will not be a distant reality.
In this Easter period, we wish you more happiness and prosperity as we work together to remain your dependable bank, your own Kombra Bank, your Bank of Choice!!
Happy Easter Holidays!!
Amb. Dr. Walton Ekundayo Gilpin – COOR
Managing Director
