Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department are presently investigating a case of theft in the house of the current Minister of Transport and Aviation, Kabineh Kallon.
Our investigation revealed that the wife of Minister Kabineh Kallon allegedly made an official statement at the CID complaining about the theft of a good number of US dollars kept at home.
It is understood that when the matter was reported at the CID, two people were said to have been arrested and placed on detention at the CID Headquarters. The two initially arrested and detained were Yayah Sesay, who was former security guard to the minister and Alfred Samba Danema, who is said to be the nephew of Mrs. Kallon. Both Sesay and Danema were put behind bars whilst investigation was on-going.
Times SL later learnt that Mrs. Kallon who had earlier made her statement to the officers at CID decided to withdraw her statement a day after journalist had sent a text to Minister Kabineh Kallon seeking clarification on the issue. The Minister did not respond to the enquiry of the journalist, though a text was sent to him via whatsapp as well as on sms for clarification. The text message sent to the minister in respect of the matter reads…
Now that the matter has been on the spotlight, Minister Kallon and his wife are alleged to have approached the CID Officers calling for withdrawal of initial statement whilst the two who were in police custody have also been released.
Last year the Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, Kelfala M. Kallon whilst addressing journalists at a news conference in 2019, said anyone found in possession of above ten thousand US dollars at home or in a bureau contravenes the Bank of Sierra Leone Act 2019 and is punishable by law as stipulated in section 26 (5) of the act of 2019. Referencing Section 48 (3) of the Bank of Sierra Leone Act of 2019, Governor Kallon maintained that no individual or business entity should hold more than US$10,000 or its equivalent in any foreign currency or collect same outside the banking system, hinging on the foreign exchange bureaus doing business in the country.
They were asked to do daily returns of their foreign exchange transactions to the BSL and also pay into the commercial banks all foreign monies above the prescribed limit. In this regard, he stressed that under reporting of FX transactions to the Bank of Sierra Leone will result in revocation of their license.
This begs the question as to whether the Minister is above the law to be holding at home US dollars above the stipulated limit, officially declared by the Bank Governor, as part of control measures to ensure an appreciation of the Leone. Why was the matter withdrawn from the CID and the alleged suspects released? Was that action taken to prevent further exposure of this apparent violation of the Bank’s Act and directives? Where did that money come from? See more details next edition..
*_The Times SL Newspaper_*
