Dar es Salaam: Court asked to dismiss bankers' case

Written by FAUSTINE KAPAMA.

THE defence asked the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam to dismiss money laundering charges filed against former officer with Twiga Bancorp Limited, Edwin Peter Eponda, linking him with swindling 65,125 US dollars, property of his employer.

"The charges are defective and bad in law because of duplicity. We invite this court to reject them or order the prosecution to make necessary amendments to suit the requirement of the law," Advocate Hudson Ndusyepo for the accused, told Senior Resident Magistrate, Mr Geni Dudu.

He alleged that under Section 129 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), the court was empowered to intervene and give appropriate orders to ensure justice is met if it finds defects on the charges filed against the accused person.

According to the advocate, his client is facing nine counts of stealing by a public servant and one on money laundering allegedly committed between October and November 2010 in Dar es Salaam.

"The particulars for the nine counts indicate that the accused person as being employee of Twiga Bancorp Limited, fraudulently stole 65,125 US dollars (about 106m/-)," the advocate submitted.

He claimed further that particulars relating to the 10th count of money laundering shows that after committing the said nine counts, the accused converted the said sum into local currency and he spent 4m/- on purchasing of a piece of land to conceal the proceeds of theft.

"We have no problem on other counts except the 10th charge of money laundering. The problem here is the distinct offence of theft, different from stealing as alleged in other nine counts. The charge is defective both in substance and form as all particulars of offence refer to the acts of stealing," he said.

However, Senior State Attorney Frank Kimaro for the prosecution, requested the court to dismiss the request by the defence, submitting that the submissions presented lacked legal merit.

He told the court that Section 129 of the CPA cited by the advocate to support the request was not applicable. "We say so because Section 129 of CPA is applicable during registration or admission of the charge.

The charge sheet before you has already been admitted. The submissions by the advocate are without merit and means nothing than being made to delay the prosecution's case," the attorney argued. He submitted that the charges filed against the accused were proper and the defence counsel had not shown the defects.

"There is nothing like duplicity of the charges here. The charge before you is proper. The objection raised by the defence is without merit and should be rejected," he said. After hearing the submissions from both parties, the trial magistrate said that he would deliver the ruling on the matter on June 5.

Source: http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/18002-court-asked-to-dismiss-bankers-case