House loan 1997           ($154,000) D3,850,000
Sold House 1999            $274,000) D6,850,000

Profit from sale               $100,000 or D2,500,000 (65% profit) in 2 big
years folks.  Is he kidding? Continuing!
Equity                             $30,000 or D750,000 (19% of loan amount)
approximately 1,250/month

Take home from sale       $130,000 (D3,250,000 assuming D25 to $1)
Stock Investment             $65,000
Deposited Remainder        $65,000

Would have made 25% profit ($32,000) form his $130,000, but what happened?
How much did he end up making from his investments?

Continuing with the                                    $130,000
He thought he came back to the Gambia with $25,000 (cash) - violation of US
laws.

Remaining                                                  $110,000 or
D2,750,000
However, he wired to Gambia                       $200,000 or D5,000,000
(where did he get the
                                                                remaining
$90,000 from?

Also, is the $200,000 transfer different from his divestiture from his
Wachovia holdings, which he also said he lodged into his a/c at SCB.

Now he owns a six bedroom house D3,500,000 ($140,000)
By this time, every cent from his holdings in Wachovia is wiped out and
$10,000 in the hole.

Bought house in 1995 for D400,000 ($16,000)
This is prior to coming to America.  What is the source?

Invested in a plot D700,000 ($28,000)
What is the source?

Constructed Destiny Entertainment D4,000,000 ($160,000)
What is the source?

Annual proceeds from Camelot D1,500,000 x 3= D4,500,000 ($60,000 x 3=
$90,000)
What is the cost of sale?  How about gross sales? Has this guy ever paid
taxes on anything?


Debt to Overseas suppliers ($74,000) D1,850,000

Debt to Central Bank D27,000,000 ($1,080,000)
How come???  What is the circumstance of this debt???  Who authorized it???

Now listen to this, out of a debt of D27,000,000, he repaid D568,000 (2%)
This was the grounds for his release.

He vigorously tried to stabilize the Dalasi, How so?

He inherited his mother's car, who is he kidding?  But hey, anything flies
with JP.

Bought a car for his wife              D300,000 ($12,000)
Bought three trucks                 D1,300,000 ($52,000)
bought a Pajero                          D450,000 ($18,000)
Sold Pajero                                (D300,000 ($12,000)

Remittances to kids in UK 3 years  ($67,500) D1,687,500
Remittance to kid in the US 3 years ($15,000) D375,000

In layperson's terms what Lang told Paul is his assets (what he said he
owns) as listed is D25,462,500 or $928,000.  His debts to Central Bank his
employer, is D27,000,000, less D568,000, or D26,432,000 ($1,057,280).  His
debts to his suppliers is D1,850,000 or $74,000.  This brings his total
debts to  D28,282,000 or $1,131,280, excluding interest, taxes and
penalties.  Now, do you see how close the chunk from the Central Bank is to
the total assets he listed.  Where is his properties in the UK and Atlanta?
I know this is just the tip of the iceberg, but Lang as suspected by most of
us, was having fun with your and my money.  Doubts anyone?  I'm exhausted to
start with Clarke Bajo.  Please read below.

Lang Conteh, Clarke Bajo appear
By Pa Malick Faye & Ousman Darboe
Oct 6, 2004, 16:43

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Lang Conteh, the former foreign exchange manager at the Central Bank Monday
told the Paul Commission that he joined the bank as an accounts clerk in
1978.
By 1994, he said he was a senior officer at the Bank’s foreign exchange
department and that in 1996 he left for further studies to the US.

On his return in 2000 he joined the Bank again. In 2001, Mr Conteh said he
was acting foreign exchange manager and between May and September 2003 he
was confirmed foreign exchange manager.

Mr Conteh said while in the US, he took a credit facility in 1997 to buy a
house. “I did take a housing mortgage loan of US$154,000. It should have
been for a 30 year period but I sold the property for US$274,000 in 1999
when I was about to return to The Gambia. I was left with US$130,000 after
the mortgage providers took their share. The profit from the this
transaction is part of the money I brought to The Gambia,” he said.

Mr Conteh said he invested about US$65,000 in stocks at the Wachovia
Investment group and that he deposited the remaining money into his Wachovia
bank account in the US.
He further said he would have made a 25 per cent profit and that about 90
per cent of his holdings in the US was transferred to The Gambia on his
return.

“When returning home, I came with three containers of goods and personal
effects. My accounts are still running in the US though not active. When I
was coming, I think I came with about US$25,000 cash to the Gambia. I
divested most of my stock holdings through my Wachovia account and lodged
them into my accounts at Standard Chartered Bank and Trust Bank in The
Gambia.”

Mr Conteh said he transferred about US$200,000 into his accounts in The
Gambia adding that his intention of coming to The Gambia was not for money
but to serve and to create a company that would provide employment.
About his landed properties, Mr Conteh said he owns a six bedroom house in
Kotu East valued at D3.5 million. He said he also has a three bedroom house
in Kotu South which he built in 1995 and another one he in Kerr Serign he
bought from the AMRC in 2000/1 for about D400,000.

He added that he was officially allocated a plot of land opposite his
Camelot Boutique along Kairaba Avenue and that he has invested about
D700,000 in it.

He also said he was allocated land at the back of BB Hotel on which he has
constructed Destiny Multi-purpose entertainment centre which is valued at D4
million.
When queried on why he built a permanent structure on the land as the TDA is
only designated for temporary structures, Mr Conteh replied that it was
approved by the TDA board.

Counsel Emmanuel Fagbenle then put it to him that most of the public
servants were his men. To this, he said, “No, it was not Yanks who allocated
it. It was the Tourism Board. I don’t take what does not belong to me. If I
do I will return it. Yanks was aware but he was not involved. I swear by the
Holy Qur’an. I am here to speak the truth.”

Mr. Conteh said in 2001 he opened personal accounts at the Standard
Chartered and Trust banks and that he also opened a separate account for his
Camelot boutique.
He disclosed that his annual proceeds from the boutique is about D1.5
million.

“A lot of my profit from Camelot goes to personal charity such as fees and
relatives,” he stated. He said that some of his income from Camelot went
into his building projects. He revealed that he got his goods from suppliers
abroad and that Camelot owes suppliers abroad about US$74,000.

On whether his daughter is a shareholder in the business, Mr Conteh said he
is the actual owner of Camelot and that he used his daughter as a
shareholder only for the purposes of registration.

When Counsel Fagbenle asked him about his daughter’s involvement in the
Wechit Faling bureau de change set up by insiders of the bank, Mr Conteh
remarked that his daughter, Bintou Conteh, is not a partner to the business.
He said her name was used as shareholder only to help the actual owner, Mrs
Betty Saine, to register the bureau.

He also mentioned the names of Begai Ceesay and the wife of the former
governor of the bank, Oley Cham as shareholders of the business.

When asked why he was then interrogated by the NIA regarding the D27 million
the bureau owed the Central Bank, Mr Conteh accepted being called upon by
the NIA regarding Wechit Faling but that his daughter was not actually
involved in the business. “Some of the amount has been paid and the
remaining amount has gone down drastically. When I was called at the NIA
office, the amount I paid was D568,000,” he added.

Mr Conteh argued that as foreign exchange manager. he “vigorously” tried to
stabilise the dalasi .
Mr Conteh said he inherited his mother’s car and that he bought a mini
pajero for his wife in 2003 for about D300,000.

He said he bought three trucks totalling D1.3 million from TK Motors in
2000, 2001, and 2002. He also said he brought two cars from the US on his
return to The Gambia in 2000.

“I had another Pajero I bought in 2001 for D450,000. I sold it in 2003 for
about D300,000.”

On how he spends his per diems, Mr Conteh said he mainly used the savings to
buy gifts and presents for relatives and friends.

He also told the commission that he annually remits about 15,000 Pounds
Sterling to his two children in the UK and about US$5,000 to the one in the
US. He was asked to report back to the commission with receipts, bank
accounts and relevant documents relating to per diems and properties.

Momodou Clarke Bajo
Momodou Clarke Bajo, former Governor of the Central Bank yesterday told the
Paul Commission that he could not recall the amount he was paid as Governor
from October 1994 to early 1998, as it was not stated in his letter of
appointment.

In a marathon six-and-a-half hour testimony, Mr Bajo said he joined the
Central Bank in May 1975 and that by July 1994, he was second in command as
general manager of the Bank.

He revealed that between December 1998 and November 2003, he was paid
amonthly salary of D20,000 and an annual sum of D36,000 as housing
allowance.

Mr Bajo who was a member of the Gamtel board between 2001 and 2002 said he
received D1000 monthly and received D750 as board member of the Central Bank
during his tenure as governor. He admitted making savings from his travel
per diems and apart from that he had no official source of income.

“I used most of any per diems on my ongoing projects at my compound I live.
In my regional travels, I saved almost 80 per cent of my per diems and 50 to
60 per cent in other parts of the world. It is not a habit to pay the
balances of any per diems into my account.”

Landed properties
Mr Bajo who affirmed that he had other sources of income apart from his
official emoluments said he owns a compound and two plots of land in Sukuta.
He said he “acquired the Sukuta proprties from my parents when I was in the
university. The actual building started in 1999 and completed in 2002. I
spent about D1.2 million.”
He said he did not keep records of items bought for the construction.

The former Central Bank governor told the commission that a leased Kotu
property was allocated to him in 1990. He further said he completed building
a bungalow there in 1994 and “I gave it to it my friend who was staying
there free of charge until he left. I later rented it to the first tenant
for D70,000 dalasis for two years and now it is occupied by another tenant
in his first year at D90,000 per annum. The first tenant occupied it from
2000 to 2002 and the second occupied it last December.”

He said the proceeds of the rent are used to purchase building materials for
his compound in Sukuta, adding that he spent, on three occassions, about
D10,000 to repaint his Kotu property.

Mr Bajo also said that he has two fenced plots in Jamisa which he bought at
D15,000 each, a seaside plot in Tanji which he bought for D24,000 and one in
Serrekunda which he bought for D80,000.

He said that he has farms in Tanji, Sukuta and Tujereng where he grows
mangoes, cassava, maize and groundnut. He denied owning plots in Manjai
Kunda and Banjulinding but acknolwleged that he owns a herd of cattle.

Vehicles
Clarke Bajo told the commission that he has three trucks one of which was
bought in 1989 and the rest in 2001.
He took a Trust Bank loan of D600,000 to buy the two trucks in 2001. He
revealed that he earns D45,000 monthly at the peak period and D30,000 at the
low period, adding that the first truck he bought generated him a monthly
sum of D25,000 between 1989 and 1994. He further told the commission that he
had no documents in relatuion to the income generated from the trucks.

On private vehicles, Bajo stated that he bought a BMW car in 1996 for about
D80,000 and a Passat New Type in 2000 for which he has currently spent
D375,000.
He also made mention of a Pajero Jeep bought from TK Motors in 2001 for
which he made a down payment of D200,000 through a Bank loan.

When questioned by Counsel Emmanuel Fagbenle on a Nissan pick up which he
failed to include in his declaration form, Bajo said it was acquired from
Shyben Madi at a price he could not recall.

Loans
Mr Bajo said he took a building loan from the Central Bank in 1978 the
balance of which stood at D277,000 at his retirement. He said “I am paying
the outstanding amounts through my pension scheme as the loans are repayable
in 30 years. Initially it was 20 years but it is now increased to 30 years
on Central Bank loans for the staff.”

He also revealed that he took a car loan of D350,000 from the bank half of
which is to be paid by him and the other half by the bank. “This is the
bank’s policy for senior staff. At the time of my discharge, I was paid
benefit which I used to settle the car loan and other personel liabilities.”

© Copyright 2003 by Observer Company

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