A. Fall, aged 25 and residing in Mboro, appeared before the Thiès court of flagrant offenses for fraud involving the sum of 1,925,000 FCFA, to the detriment of D. Guèye.

According to the plaintiff, D. Guèye, it all started with his desire to send his brother to South Korea. “When I mentioned it to my friend Idrissa Ndiaye, who is in Korea, he put me in touch with a man named Bamba Diakhaté, who is also there. Diakhaté assured me he could arrange the trip for my brother and asked for 4,500,000 FCFA for the visa. He then asked me to transfer the money to A. Fall. I then sent a total of 1,925,000 FCFA via a money transfer service. When I realized I was being scammed, I tried to contact Bamba Diakhaté, but he never responded,” the victim explained.

D. Guèye is now demanding a full refund of the amount paid.

Denials of the defendant and plea of the defense

In court, A. Fall contested the charges. He claimed not to know Bamba Diakhaté and to have agreed to receive the money only at the request of his brother, Mor Wade, without realizing it was a fraudulent scheme. "I only received 250,000 FCFA from D. Guèye. I only received one transfer from him," he stated in his defense.

The public prosecutor has requested the application of the law.

The defense, led by Mr. Sène, argued that A. Fall had not committed any fraud and was neither the principal perpetrator nor an accomplice in this case. The lawyer emphasized that his client never initiated the travel plans, never solicited the victim to pay any money, and committed no criminal act. He therefore pleaded for his client's acquittal based on reasonable doubt.

After deliberation, the court reclassified the charges from fraud to complicity in fraud. A. Fall was found guilty on this charge and sentenced to one month in prison. He will also have to pay the plaintiff 1,925,000 FCFA in damages.