ACC Drags Ecobank-SL & 3 Others To Court

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed an extensive indictment against Ecobank Sierra Leone Limited, its former Head of Retail Operations, Abdul Salim Mansaray, and two others, Tallu Jalloh and Magnus Samuel Valentine Cole, on 147 counts of corruption and related offenses.

Abdul Salim Mansaray faces 57 counts of misappropriation of public revenue, one count of unlawfully acquiring public property, conspiracy to commit a corruption offense, eight counts of providing misleading information, and one count of transferring illicit property.

Ecobank is indicted on 142 counts, including 57 counts of misappropriation, 57 counts of failing to report suspicious transactions, and multiple counts of failing to conduct due diligence and providing misleading information.

The charges stem from an alleged scheme between March 2022 and October 2023, in which tax revenues intended for the National Revenue Authority (NRA) were diverted to the personal accounts of Jalloh and Cole.

The total misappropriated amount is reported to be Le 17.4 million, involving transactions from several companies, including Oxfam, Meya Mining, and NP (SL) Limited.

The ACC asserts that Ecobank failed to flag these transactions as suspicious, in violation of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Terrorism Act.

The commission reaffirmed its commitment to tackling corruption in Sierra Leone.