By Titus Boye-Thompson, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Senior police officers in Sierra Leone are currently investigating a limited liability company registered in Sierra Leone with foreign nationals as shareholders that has collected moneys to the tune of around Le 1.4billion from students and unemployed young people in this country for the purpose of finding them work placements in Canada, Finland and Australia.
The company was publicly launched with much fanfare with the directors presenting a very formidable front as a legitimate venture. They seem to have used the names and profiles of prominent people within the society and presented itself with much official credence to back up their scam to the extent that the due diligence searches made by the unsuspecting young people met with a façade
of official sanction and credibility.
The spokesman of the affected youths says they have set up a ten man committee to deal with the issue. Sahr Moses Yonga made a brief statement to the Sierra Leone Police Media Communications Unit expressing their dismay at the manner in which the company, Rangers Manpower Solutions Ltd used a fake front to deprive them of an average of US$ 3,5OO each. Up to 215 students have been fleeced by this company.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Richard Moigbe, has assured the traumatised youths that now that a comprehensive report has been provided to the Sierra Leone Police, the responsible agency in these matters, the CID, will undertake a thorough investigation to find and bring the named culprits to justice in Sierra Leone.
Some of the people whose faces and personas were used in the operations of the company have been named. The police will use all necessary means at their disposal to bring these people in for questioning so as to build a better picture of what actually happened and how the issue could be addressed for the benefit of the affected students and youths who have been so callously defrauded.
In the meantime, the Police admonished the youths to keep well within the law and to await the outcome of their complaint and further police investigation. A member of the youth committee, William Dauda, who was vociferous in putting their complaints across, implored the Sierra Leone Police to be vigilant in their investigations. He and his colleagues have also provided some names to Police of
those who in their opinion are culpable in this grand fraud.
The youths engaged in wide ranging discussions on their plight with the Deputy Inspector General of Police and other senior members of the Police force at Police Headquarters, George Street on Tuesday 24th June 2014. They have asked for some recompense by way of refunds of the moneys they had loaned from friends and relatives or otherwise for their plight to be mitigated by way of job opportunities.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Richard Moigbe moved swiftly on to reconstitute the investigations team to include the Trans National Organized Crime Unit (TOCU), Head of CID, the Chief Immigration Officer and some of the youth representatives.
He then invited them to brief the head of the police council Honourable Vice President, Alhaji Chief Samuel Sam-Sumana (photo) at his office. This briefing was to provide the VP with a clear description of the young people’s plight and to seek further directions on what could be done on their case.
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