Manager Tricks Ex-employer

Prosecutors in Monrovia are demanding an asset-freeze order from Criminal court “C” against a local business enterprise’s former sales manager, defendant Bayo Tamba Martin over claims that he deceived his former employer – Essential Needs, Inc. by converting US$34,485 to himself, reinvesting same into his private business known as Honesty Pays, Inc.

Defendant Martin and co-defendant Prince Quetoe had jointly been indicted under multiple crimes of money laundering, theft of property and criminal conspiracy, leading government prosecutors to demand an extension of an asset-freeze order on Martins’ Honesty Pays, Inc …

wherein the property is believed to be proceeds or instrumentality of crime or terrorist property. But the defendant has rejected the prosecutors’ contention to freeze his business asset on grounds that he has been indicted, and not Honesty Pays, Inc, saying through his legal counsels that “crime is not transferable.”

In the documents filed before Criminal Court “C” at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia, the prosecutors indicated that immediately after defendant Martin had siphoned the alleged US$34,485 from Essential Needs, Inc. on June 7, 2015, he wrote a letter to the entity’s CEO,

Mrs. Susie T. Keykpo, to complain about his alleged “deteriorated” health condition. In that letter, the prosecutors claimed that defendant Martin claimed he was seeking advanced medical checkup abroad and therefore, requested for severance benefit from the Essential Needs, Inc. from which he had already allegedly stolen the money in question.

“… This was purely trick, artifice, dissimulated of his real intentions. In substantiation of the averment contained herein is the copy of Respondent Letter to Applicant requesting for Severance Pay,” prosecutors argued in an application for “freezing order” filed with Criminal Court “C.”

The indictment detailed that on January 5 this year – while defendant Tamba was serving as Sales Manager at Essential Needs, Inc. on Somalia Drive, Bushrod Island, he

allegedly took and fled away US17,700 which a customer had brought for goods credited.

According to the indictment, while the management of Essential Needs, Inc. was still investigating the alleged theft case, defendant Martin was undertaking some renovation works on his building, after purchasing a Nissan Primera station wagon, following which he opened a new business called Honesty Pays, (Liberia) Inc.

Additionally, the indictment noted that the defendant was said to be in contact with the supplier of Essential Needs, Inc. in the Netherlands to be supplied the same line of goods – pig feet for his new company.

By Winston W. Parley