BoT official walks scot-free as prosecutor drops case .

FAUSTINE KAPAMA

THE Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday discharged former Director of Finance at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), Julius Rutta Angello, who was facing corrupt transactions charge involving over 161m/-, allegedly being proceeds from Tegeta Escrow Account.

Principal Resident Magistrate Huruma Shaidi reached into such a decision after granting a request by the prosecution who decided to withdraw the case against Angello under section 98 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA).
The case had been set for hearing and the prosecutor from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Mr Max Ally, informed the court that they had come with one witness to testify.
However, the PCCB officer told the court that the prosecution would wish to drop the case under the cited section. No further explanations were given by the prosecution.
Angello had been accused of corruptly obtaining for himself advantage of 161,700,000/- on February 6, 2014, at Mkombozi Bank House in Ilala Municipality through his bank account from Mr James Rugemalira, a Private International Consultant and Director of VIP Engineering and Marketing.
It was alleged that such amount was a reward for facilitating payments from the Tegeta Escrow Account to Pan African Power Solutions (Tanzania) Limited, the matter which is related to the principal’s affairs.
The release of Mr Angello comes few days after the same court acquitted the former Executive Officer with Registration Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA), Phillip Saliboko, on corruption charges he was facing. Saliboko had been accused of obtaining 40,425,000/-, as rewards from Mr Rugemalira.
Senior Resident Magistrate Thomas Simba ruled that the prosecution, through its three witnesses, failed to prove the charges against the ex-RITA boss beyond reasonable doubts, as required in criminal cases.