A Sierra Leonean suspect recently detained at the Kilimani Police Station for alleged claims of extorting thousands of dollars using the offices of both H.E. the President and the Hon. Vice President, that he works in the Office of the President at State House and a Special Aide to H.E. the President and dealing in gold and diamonds with the Hon. Vice President has disappeared following police investigations.
Pascal Leigh who is also called Mohamed Sillah carrying two Sierra Leonean passports (No. 0016843 & No. 0254440) is alleged to have defrauded investors in Kenya, Malaysia, Dubai and Thailand using esteemed offices in Sierra Leone that led to his arrest and detention in Kenya.
FEARED DEAD?
The concern here among fellow Sierra Leoneans is that a desperate Kenyan gold and diamond tycoon Joe Kabiru who sneaked into Sierra Leone for a clandestine deal that back fired might take chances to revenge on the Sierra Leonean suspect in Kenya. Up to press time nobody knows Pascal Leigh’s whereabouts or contact.
SUSPECT’S BAIL
Pascal Leigh’s sudden disappearance has raised eye brows of concerned Sierra Leoneans here in Kenya and has provoked mixed feelings among fellow compatriots that has led to finger pointing at various stakeholders including the country’s Consul General’s office for total negligence and gross violation of human rights.
From my independent investigation with the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department at the Kilimani Police Station in Nairobi, the suspect was handed over to the Deputy Consul Abdul Kargbo after his intervention and to further verify the authenticity of the passports and the nationality of the suspect. The suspect was then released on bail for further investigations the following Monday (1st March).
I was present that Monday from 9 a.m. till 2 p.m but the Deputy Consular General, the suspect and the Kenyan complainant Joe Kabiru were nowhere to be found. I further inquired from the overall Commanding Officer of the Kilimani Police Station who in turn outrightly denied knowledge of such matter but rather referred me to cross check with the CID Director who was said to have a bit of an idea about the case in question but the suspect and complainant are yet to show up. The CID boss however confirmed that the suspect before leaving their office refunded the sum of $2,000 (dollars) and 40,000 KSH (approximately 530 USD) to the complainant investor Mr. Joe Kabiru. "Since that day of his release we have not set eyes on him, but we have his documents here," the CID boss said.
WHERE IS PASCAL LEIGH?
The above was the question I first posed to the Deputy Consul of Sierra Leone in Nairobi, Abdul Kargbo, via phone. All the country’s envoy could reply was, ‘Well I believe he is around."
Why was he arrested or detained in Nairobi? Mr. Kargbo dawdled saying Pascal Leigh has a Kenyan girl friend known as Chichi that is helping him out but his disappearance has also forced the lady to go back to the police and request the money (40,000 KSH) she lent Pascal to be refunded to her.
I tried relentlessly to inquire from the complainant investor Joe Kabiru on his cell line but he keeps promising to meet me in person which he has failed to do for the past weeks.
ALLEGATIONS
Concerned Sierra Leonean citizens in Kenya have expressed dissatisfaction over the way and manner in which the consulate office in Nairobi has handled the alleged claims over a Sierra Leonean citizen who they say has committed no crime in Kenya. Most Sierra Leonean residents in Nairobi are of the opinion that it is a deal between the Kenyan Joe Kabiru and the deputy consul Abdul Kargbo who has kept sealed lips over the disappearance of Pascal Leigh.
The Deputy Consul in the first place based on my investigation failed to verify the authenticity of the passports and the nationality of the suspect up till now and left both suspect and passports at the mercy of the Kenya Police at Kilimani. The so called allegations against the suspect Pascal Leigh were also not official but a deal between the CID boss and the Kenyan businessman Joe. Observers here say it is a way or strategy by the consul’s office here in Nairobi to be silent and keep the matter closed because the suspect has claimed alliance with the offices of the President and Vice President.
PRESIDENT & VP’s OFFICE
The transaction between the suspect Pascal Leigh a.k.a Mohamed Jabbie and the GeoMart Global Traders (U) Ltd. Suite 2, Plot 7 Portal Avenue, Kampala, Uganda according to electronic documents with this press started since mid 2008.
According to a correspondence (unedited) dated Tue, November 11, 2008 3:18:11 AM, Subject: RE: Urgent need of proof aganist Mo and Jabbie; it reads:
I am Pascal Leigh, am the personal assistance to the Vice-President
I am a Sierra Leonean, I was born on March 30 1972 in Freetown.
I have two kids both residing in England, I am a single man, am a christian and my telephone numbers are 23277466463 and 232333389272.
My address is No 1 Crowther Lane, Wellington, Freetown.
Please urgently send all necessary documents to prove this case to Mr Pascal , who works in the office of Vice President and who has already traced Mo and Jabbie and once they have more proof they will arrest him and secure our funds back’.
A caption from another email (unedited) also draws attention to VP’s office and Lungi Airport.
From: GeoMart Global [mailto:geomart2k@yahoo.com]
Sent: 10 November 2008 06:46
To: SAURABH UPADHYAY; Sailin Sheth
Subject: Re: Urgent need of proof aganist Mo and Jabbie.
Number two, remember I mentioned in earlier e-mails that they have purpotedly very close contacts with the....vice president...(apparently he is Jabbie’s relative). That is what I gathered as they have accorded me airport VIP treatment upon landing - the customer relations lady at arrival was introducing me to customs and immigration officials as "a guest of the VP" and so Pascal being in the VP office does merit raising an eyebrow.
CONCLUSION
If the email communications between Pascal Leigh and SAURABH UPADHYAY of GeoMart Global Traders limited is anything to go by, then there are several evidences to prove the claims of involvement of various parties including the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources, the border security guards at the Zimmi-Liberian border and the Immigration department at Lungi Airport.
The emails confirmed the entry of Joe Kabiru or Sailin Sheth into Sierra Leone without proper checking and with money worth over USD 50,000 though they were very skeptical about the country as confessed in one of the emails thus(unedited):
‘……There is also the implication of me conniving with Mo on smuggling out the dees as well as me smuggling in the cash (SL has forex rules of US$5k upon entry). SL is a dangerous place so we must proceed with caution and finality. I am sure they both know we cannot effect remedy by remote and as such I must be physically present to raise and support the claim...that is why I would want to be doubly sure who is on our side...I might travel there and be summmarily arrested at the airport for any number of issues.’
The so called trading company based in Uganda and its partners according to the email evidence with this press shows that they have invested over USD 200,000 on fake diamonds and gold deals in Sierra Leone since 2008 and this group has pledged to do all in their powers to get back their money from those concerned in Sierra Leone as stated in this email thus:
‘… Please note that these are not mere threat to you that we can do anything, believe me Sailin will do it it if these funds are not returned to us or you dont get Mo or Jabbie to perform’.
It is as against this backdrop and much more withheld information that this press believes that Pascal Leigh is in danger in Kenya as a result of negligence on the part of government and its consul in Nairobi.
The Patriotic Vanguard is still trying to get deputy consul Abdul Kargbo to comment on the serious allegations by some of the actors in this sordid affair against the Vice President’s office in Freetown.
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