By Emma Black

Pademba Road Court Buildig

Six suspects, including an Orange Mobile Money agent, stood grim-faced before Magistrate Santigie Bangura at Pademba Road Court No. 2, accused of siphoning Le19.8 million from Access Bank via a slick Orange Money scheme. The lineup Yusif Turay, Ibrahim Thullah (the agent), Ishmael Nat Thomas, Hassan Gibrill Kargbo, Alhaji Santigie Sesay, and Sheriff Osman Sankoh faces three heavy charges: conspiracy to defraud, larceny by servant, and theft.

Prosecutors paint a calculated hit. Between March 24 and 25, 2025, across Freetown’s Access Bank branches and out to Rotifunk in Port Loko District, the group allegedly colluded with unknown players to bleed Le19,878,360 from Orange Mobile Finance Limited, the method? Hijacking the Orange Money wallet-to-bank platform, draining account 0010160000326—a cash pool for Orange’s mobile wallet.

This wasn’t a slip it was a setup, said Deputy Superintendent Sorie Conteh, prosecuting, the charges, rooted in the 1916 Larceny Act, hit hard as orange agents, some suspects betrayed trust to pull off the grab.

No pleas yet the accused stayed mum. Conteh asked for a brief pause to huddle with key witnesses, a move the court greenlit. Defense lawyer Abdul Rahman Kargbo Esq. fought for bail, pitching his clients as rooted locals with solid backers, swearing they’d stick around and keep clean under the 1965 Criminal Procedure Act. But Bangura wasn’t swayed, this is serious money, serious crime, he ruled, locking all six in Freetown’s Male Correctional Centre.

The case rolls on April 14, 2025, with eyes on a scam that’s jolted trust in mobile money’s boom. For now, the six sit tight caged, charged, and under scrutiny.