GT-Bank employees conceal deposit log

Prosecution’s first witness in the trial of two GT- Bank Employees, Madam Olushola Alioha claimed that the bank’s indicted employees – Montmonrancy Yancy and Emmanuel Togba, allegedly confessed to clandestinely taking away from the bank a deposit log that was a subject of internal investigation surrounding the misapplication of US$126,219 of Total Liberia’s deposit. Witness Alioha – the head of banking operations at GT- Bank, told the court that she was told that the “deposit log suddenly disappeared” when she asked defendant Stanley Yorsee in July 2015 to give her the log around 4pm.

She said her request for the log was due to an email she received from the bank account officer for Total Liberia with attachments of deposit slips that were not posted into their accounts. “ … When I received this email with the attachments, I immediately forwarded the email to Stanley Yorsee to verify in Total Liberia accounts if the claims were actually true,” she said, adding that she was told of the log’s sudden disappearance when she called Yorsee after a few minutes.

However, Witness Alioha recalled explaining that one of the bank tellers – Francier, had revealed how she saw Emmanuel Togba looking through the very deposits log in the morning when they went for breakfast.

Initially, witness Alioha testified that Emmanuel and Yancy told her they could not find the log and as a result, she involved the bank’s Auditor – Alex and the compliance, who worked with her to take Emmanuel and Yancy to the bulk room for interrogation.

At some point of the interrogation process, she said Emmanuel requested to call his pastor, while Yancy requested to call his father before Emmanuel allegedly made confession that Yancy had asked him to take the deposits log out of the bank. “… [And] at that point, Yancy broke out in tears and I also broke out in tears and he confessed that he had the book,” witness Alioha

testified, saying further that she immediately demanded the book from defendant Yancy.

According to her, Yancy made a phone call to his unnamed girlfriend to bring the log book to the bank, and that the girlfriend and Emmanuel were all arrested by police at the bank upon bringing the log book with some of the deposit slips for some customers and Total Liberia. Witness Alioha claimed that defendant Yancy requested to have discussion with her while at the police station, saying the next morning, she and Auditor Alex took Emmanuel, Yancy and his girlfriend to an empty room where Yancy confessed that he and Stanley were “in the business of using the bank’s money as loan …” Under multiple charges of theft of property, misapplication of entrusted property, criminal conspiracy and criminal facilitation, prosecutors accused the defendants of taking cash of US$126,219.00 which was allegedly deposited by Total Liberia Inc. at GT – Bank between May and June 2015.

A number of Total Liberia Inc. Gas Stations including, A. Jawara at Jacob Town, Wroto Town, A. Kaba [in] Congo Town, Rehab Station and Tarr Town, were said to have made several deposits at GT – Bank totaling US$126,219.00; but the indictees allegedly loaned it out without the bank management’s authorization.

By Winston W. Parley