By: Isatou Sarr
Justice S.K. Jobarteh of the High Court in Banjul has acquitted and discharged seven employees of Vista Bank in the D2.59 million fraud case involving the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA), ruling that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
The accused persons were standing trial on charges including conspiracy, making documents without authority, making false documents and theft under the Criminal Code. The case related to alleged unauthorised withdrawals amounting to D2,591,000 from GPA’s dalasi account between April and November 2022.
In her ruling on a no-case submission, Justice Jobarteh held that the evidence presented against the third to ninth accused persons pointed to institutional lapses within the bank and did not establish criminal intent or conspiracy.
The judge noted that prosecution witnesses testified that the cheque series used did not match GPA’s official records and that the signatures failed to meet the authority’s two-signature requirement. Evidence was also led that some phone numbers linked to the transactions were false, while certain driver’s licences were allegedly forged.
However, the court ruled that there was no evidence showing that the seven bank employees knowingly participated in any fraudulent scheme or benefited from the withdrawn funds.
The court further heard testimony from Vista Bank’s Head of Internal Audit, who said the authorised signing mandate was available within the bank’s system and that the printing of cheque books resulted from an internal error.
Justice Jobarteh consequently acquitted and discharged the seven accused persons on all counts.
The court ordered the first and second accused persons to enter their defence after finding that sufficient evidence had been presented linking them to the alleged transactions.
The case will continue against the remaining accused persons.