By Mama A. Touray
The Internal Auditor at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Cherno Amadou Sowe has told the Local Government Commission of Inquiry that Lamin Susso, Finance Director of Basse area Council owes the council D500,000.00.
Director Sowe made this testimony before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry at Djembe Hotel in Senegambia.
Giving his testimony at the Djembe Hotel, Senegambia, Director of Internal Audits Sowe said “One Hundred Thousand Dalasi (D100,000) was given to the Director of Finance Lamin Suso, and instead of him repaying the amount, he went ahead to make a withdrawal of Four Hundred Thousand Dalasi (D400,000) from the council’s account. The Director of Finance should repay D500,000 because the D100,000 plus the D400,000 added together is D500,000.”
He described the act done by the Finance Director as an act that could amount to fraud.
He also said at the Commission that Basse Area Council has a ‘big hole’ and that Two Million Dalasi (D2,000,000) was deposited into the council’s Trust Bank Account, while one million three hundred thousand dalasi (D1,300,000) was withdrawn immediately.
“Later there were withdrawals made to the tune of one hundred and fifty thousand dalasi (D150,000) and eight hundred thousand dalasi (D800,000) all by the Cashier, Naba Krubally. One hundred thousand dalasi (D100,000) was given to the CEO of the Council, Ousman Touray but later the CEO refunded the amount that was given to him” he explained.
He informed the Commission that the Cashier also took one hundred thousand dalasi (D100,000).
When asked by deputy lead Counsel, Patrick Gomez, if it is normal for a cashier to have access to council funds, the witness said it is not a good practice, but if you issue a cheque in the cashier’s name he will be able to receive the money. The signatories to the accounts, he said, are the Finance Director and the Chief Executive Officer.
Meanwhile, Internal Audit Director told the Commission that the Finance Director (Lamin Suso) deposited a total of Six Million Four Hundred and Sixty-One and Sixty-One Dalasi (6,461,061) into his private business called Alatentu.
Mr. Sowe went on that the money is presumably from the revenue collected from the tax and that there is no evidence that the money was refunded to the council.
“There is no reason for the funds to be deposited into the account of the Director of Finance,” he said.
The witness said at the time the council was having an overdraft of One Million Four Hundred Thousand Dalasi (1.4 Million Dalasi).
Lawyer Patrick Gomez said revenue was being collected and entering individual pockets which could have taken care of the overdraft.
He said the same banks gave loans without evidence of formality and that the Finance Director of the Basse Area Council used to issue cheques to himself and cash those cheques with the claim that it was going to be used for council activities.
He further told the Commission that the audit team was not provided evidence that the monies were used for council activities adding, that means the auditors could not confirm how and where the funds were spent.
He reiterated that the signatories to the council accounts were the CEO and Finance Director, and he said the Finance Director made a total of Four Million One Hundred and Eighty Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi from various banks. “There is no evidence of what the money was used for,” Sowe said.