“This case is being investigated by a
special team. The team is still in the field compiling information.
Under such circumstances, investigations into the matter have not been
completed,” the trial attorney submitted.
He was responding to an order earlier
given by the court in the last session for the prosecution to disclose
the stage of investigation so far reached. The prosecutor, therefore,
requested the court to set another mention date pending further
investigations on the matter.
Before the court’s reacting to the
prosecution’s request, Advocate Alex Mgongolwa, for the accused persons,
raised the defence’s concern on the position given by the trial
attorney, saying the same was aimed at putting the court at a position
of not controlling the proceedings.
He submitted that the accused persons
have been in remand for almost eight months since their first
arraignment and no progress so in investigations into the case have been
made. “This song of incomplete investigation is very dangerous, so to
speak,” the advocate said. According to him, the prosecution started
investigating the accused persons since last year before their
arraignments.
He submitted that once an accused is
taken to court he was entitled to know the outcome of his case and not
to have endless adjournments because of incomplete investigations.
The advocate, therefore, requested the
court to put a limit or the prosecution should withdraw the charges and
discharge the accused person, as they would have another opportunity of
re-arresting them after completing the investigations. After taking into
consideration the submissions by the parties, the magistrate adjourned
the trial to December 2, for another mention and promised to work on the
matter.
Other accused persons in the matter
apart from Kitilya are Shose Sinare, who is a former Miss Tanzania and
Head of Investment Banking at Stanbic Bank and Sioi Graham Solomon,
former Chief Legal Counsel to the bank.
Apart from the money laundering count,
the three accused persons are also charged with conspiracy to commit an
offence, forgery, uttering false documents and obtaining six million US
dollars (about 12bn/-) by false pretences.
On diverse dates between August 2012 and
March 2013, within the city of Dar es Salaam, the three accused persons
allegedly conspired together and other people who are not in court to
commit an offence of obtaining money by false pretences from the
government.
It is claimed that on November 5, 2012,
at Stanbic Bank in the city, all the three accused persons, with intent
to deceit, made a false collaboration agreement purporting to show that
the bank has established a consortium to collaborate with Enterprise
Growth Market advisors (EGMA) Limited.
The purpose, according to the
prosecution, was to arrange for financing in the amount of 550 million
US dollars to the government of Tanzania under which EGMA would arrange
for negotiation and meeting involving the financing understanding on the
technicalities of the financing to the government.
It is claimed further that EGMA was also
to arrange for review of finance documents and facilitate the provision
of relevant documents or approval that would be required by relevant
Tanzania authorities, the fact which the accused persons knew to be
false.
According to the prosecution, in March
2013 in the city, Kitilya, Sinare and Solomon, with intent to defraud,
jointly and together obtained from the government six million US dollars
(about 12bn/-) by falsely pretending that the money was a facilitation
fee payable to EGMA Limited.
Such amount, it is alleged, was to
facilitate together with Stanbic Bank Tanzania a loan to the government
of the United Republic of Tanzania in the amount of 600 million US
dollars.
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