Moshi: Ex-coffee board boss guilty of pilferage, abuse of office, jailed for 7 years

By Daniel Mjema, The Citizen Correspondent.

Former Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) Director General Leslie Omari (above) was yesterday sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of office.

Principal Resident Magistrate Simon Kobelo found Omari guilty of misuse of public office and using his position for personal gain.

The court concurred with the prosecution that Omari used the TCB headquarters in Moshi as collateral for a loan issued to African Consulting Group Limited (ACGL) in which he was a shareholder.

Omari was also ordered to repay a total of Sh330 million ACGL borrowed from Exim Bank in 2003 using the five-storey building as security.

Omari’s co-accused, Mr Shaddy Kyambile, was acquitted after the court accepted his defence that he signed commitment documents putting up the building as security after the former TCB boss directed him to do so. Mr Kyambile, who was then the TCB Director of Finance, is now the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority Director of Finance.

“This court is satisfied that the second accused signed the documents as directed by the first accused, who lied to him that the decision had been approved by the TCB board of directors,” Mr Kobelo said.

He added that it had been proven beyond any reasonable doubt that Omari was chairman of the ACGL board and one of the signatories when he committed the offence.

“Although you denied the charges, technology has helped to establish that the signatures and handwriting on some documents are yours,” the magistrate said.

The court also heard that Omari had a 25 per cent stake in ACGL and was chairman of the firm’s board when he committed the offence.

Omari was sentenced to three and four years in jail for abuse of office and using his position for personal gain, respectively. However, he will spend only four years behind bars since the sentences run concurrently.

Earlier, a prosecutor from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau, Mr Maghela Ndimbo, asked the court to mete out exemplary punishment to both the accused. “Your honour, the accused deserve a deterrent sentence to serve as a lesson to other public officials,” he said.

Omari’s friends and relatives, some with tears in their eyes, comforted one another as the former TBC boss was led to a prisons vehicle for the short trip to Karanga Prison, where he began serving his sentence.

Source: The Citizen (22/03/2013): http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/-/29898-nicked-ex-coffee-board-boss-guilty-of-pilferage-abuse-of-office-jailed-for-7-years