Dar court adjourns Deci case for the last time

By Rosina John, The Citizen Correspondent 

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday issued last adjournment for a case of conducting an illegal pyramid scheme against five directors of the Development for Entrepreneurship Cooperative Initiative (Deci).

Resident magistrate Stuwart Sanga shelved the case for the last time after granting a request by defence counsel Onesmo Kyauke.

The case came up for mention to hear defence testimonies after it was proved in July this year that the accused have a case to answer. Magistrate Dudu adjourned the case to October 24, this year.The accused who are pastors of different churches, are Jackson Mtares, Dominic Kigendi, Samuel Mtares, Timotheo Ole Loitingye and Arbogast Francis. 

According to the charge sheet, on different dates between 2007 and March 2009 at the Deci headquarters in Mabibo area, Dar es Salaam, the accused solicited money from people they promised huge returns in form of interest on “seed money sown” in the scheme.

The prosecution further alleged that, the accused accepted deposits from the general public without a licence, contrary to Section 911 8(2) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act number 5 of 2006.

On July 16 this year, the five accused were found with a case to answer following evidences produced during the hearing of the case.

In the ruling, the magistrate had said that the evidence produced by the prosecution sufficiently established a case against the accused, who have no other choice than to defend themselves.

Source: The Citizen (04/10/2012): http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/51-other-news/26257-dar-court-adjourns-deci-case-for-the-last-time