By Lawrence Williams
The bank is facing a 142-count indictment on corruption-related offenses including misappropriation of more than $700,000 (SLL 17,453,863.35) in public revenue, while its former head of retail operations, Abdul Salim Mansaray, is also indicted on 57 similar charges, the anti-graft agency said on Tuesday.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said tax revenues from hotels, mining and petroleum companies and other large taxpayers payable to the National Revenue Authority (NRA) account at Ecobank between March 2022 and October 2023 were diverted into the private accounts of Tallu Jalloh and Magnus Samuel Valentine Cole, who have also been charged with conspiracy and unlawful acquisition of treasury funds.
A top ACC official told Fritong Post that Mansaray was the mastermind of the scheme. He redirected NRA funds into the accounts of Jalloh and Cole, who then withdrew the proceeds to be divided among themselves.
“Ecobank was supposed to report these suspicious financial flows, but they didn’t, and the situation persisted. That’s why it is being squarely held to account,” the source said.
The commission says these accounts were credited with unusually large amounts that qualified as “suspicious transactions,” yet the bank failed to exercise due diligence or report to the Financial Intelligence Unit.
Abubakarr Turay, ACC’s deputy director of Public Education and Outreach, said Ecobank is the first to face such charges in Sierra Leone, and will be tried as a legal person.
In January this year, the commission issued a wanted list for individuals connected to the case whose whereabouts were unknown, including Mansaray, Jalloh, and Frederick Reginald Ruvich Caulker, head of operations at United Bank for Africa (UBA).
Whilst Mansaray, Jalloh and Cole will be tried in absentia as permitted by law, nothing has been said concerning Caulker and whether he is still wanted in connection with the matter.
