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Gambia News : Gambian newspaper Editor jailed
The Managing Editor of the Daily Express newspaper in Banjul, Chibuzo Oguike, was on Wednesday sentenced to one-year imprisonment and fined D7,000 by the High Court in Banjul for forgery.
Oguike was charged with five counts of forgery; obtaining goods by false pretence; making documents without lawful authority; and uttering documents. He pleaded guilty to three counts and was convicted accordingly.
Justice Joseph Wowo sentenced the Editor to a fine of D5,000 in default to serve one-year imprisonment for the offence of forgery; D2,000 for the offence of obt a ining credit by false pretence in default to serve six months' imprisonment and o ne year imprisonment without any option of a fine for the offence of uttering a documents.
The convict was said to have gone to the International Commercial Bank and requested to be granted an overdraft facility of D25,000 claiming that he had a contract with Gambian mobile phone company, Gamcel, worth D151,000.
The Editor presented contract documents from Gamcel to the Bank which asked him to bring a letter of undertaking from Gamcel to pay all payments due to him into his account with the Bank.
Consequently, he used a Gamcel letterhead uttered, an undertaking letter purported to have been written by Modou Jallow of Gamcel Accounts Department and presented it to the Bank.
The High Court heard that based on this misrepresentation, an overdraft facility of D25,000 was granted to him for one month. When the Bank later enquired from him whether Gamcel had paid him for the contract, he said the GSM Company had called him to collect the cheque.
The Bank also made further enquires from Gamcel management why the funds were not deposited in the convict's account, but the management of Gamcel informed the bank that they were not aware of such a deal.
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