Two cashiers of the Islamic Bank of Senegal, working at two agencies in Dakar, have been handed over to the law for allegedly fraudulently subtracting CFA26,950,000 CFA from the account of Senegal’s international striker Mbaye Diagne, the daily L’Observateur reports Friday.
By Ibrahima Diagne
Accused of criminal conspiracy, extortion and embezzlement, to the detriment of Mbaye Diagne whose account management is entrusted to his sister, the two tellers admitted before the gendarmes of having acted sequentially in connivance with each other to steal the money.
It all started on December 14, when browsing his brother’s bank statement, the footballer’s sister who had just withdrawn CFA2million realised that CFA6 million had disappeared from the account without her knowledge.
Alerted, bank officials crackled their computers and identified one of their cashiers as the author of the fraudulent withdrawal.
The defendant initially denied this, but eventually owned up to it, explaining that she needed money to treat her sick mother.
Apparently understanding, the footballer’s sister called the cashier for an explanation session at her home.
At the convened date, she went to the meeting which turned out to be a trap where the alerted gendarmes were waiting to pick her up.
Grilled at the gendarmerie brigade where she was led by force, the cashier revealed that the CFA6 million was only the third act in a series of pilfering successively carried out on November 24, 2019 (CFA9,450,000) and the next day, November 25, (CFA11,500,000).
The cashier then added that she had a colleague as an accomplice.
Arrested, her alleged accomplice who works in another agency, at first denied any knowledge of the crime.
She eventually gave all the details of their conspiracy, including the use of the services of a witch-doctor to cover up their act.
Apparently, the magic did not work and the two cashiers have, since December 17, been remanded in custody, pending their trial.
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