The local gendarmerie brigade in Hann-Maristes has put an end to the activities of a con artist who was operating in Dakar by impersonating an agent of the National Electricity Company (Senelec). K. Fall, an electrician by trade and residing in Dalifort, was brought before the prosecutor's office last Monday on charges of impersonating a public official and fraud, according to Seneweb sources.

It all started at a construction site. A man confidently approached, claiming to be a Senelec (electricity company) agent, and announced he had come to inspect the electrical installations in preparation for installing a meter. A seemingly ordinary procedure. But the property owner, suspicious, asked him to show his professional ID. "It's in the car," he replied.

Accompanied by her children, the woman then walked him back to the vehicle, which was supposed to be parked nearby. It simply wasn't there. Caught red-handed, the man was taken to the Hann-Maristes local police station to explain himself to the commander.

Four complaints and one damning phone call

At the police station, the case quickly took a different turn. Upon reviewing the complaints already filed, investigators discovered that four of them, including one directly from Senelec (the national electricity company), described the same modus operandi and targeted the same individual. These victims had been defrauded by a fake agent who extorted money from them under the pretext of administrative procedures or meter adjustments. But K. Fall vehemently denied any involvement.

However, an examination of his mobile phone gave him away. Investigators found exchanges with several victims as well as traces of money transfers, all of which he was the intended recipient of. Even more significantly, one of the victims, summoned to the police station, formally identified him.

Furthermore, the investigation revealed that he operated under different names to cover his tracks and evade prosecution. This precaution, however, proved insufficient: his phone numbers remained unchanged, thus providing the key link that allowed investigators to connect all the cases to a single individual.

At the time of his arrest, K. Fall was already the subject of several complaints filed with gendarmerie units, police stations and the court.

At the conclusion of the investigation, K. Fall was brought before the prosecutor's office last Monday on charges of impersonating a public official to the detriment of Senelec and fraud. The total amount of the alleged damages is estimated at 561,400 CFA francs, according to Seneweb sources close to the prosecutor's office. He will soon be brought from prison to be questioned in connection with other legal proceedings against him.