By: Bernard Abass Kargbo, Public Education Officer-ACC
The Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Francis Ben Kaifala Esq. has updated the media about the ongoing corruption investigation involving staff of the Freetown City Council (FCC) and the Commerce and Mortgage Bank (CMB). The Commissioner gave the updates at a press conference held at the Conference Room of the Commission’s Integrity House, on Thursday, 6th March 2025.
The ACC Commissioner said, so far, the investigation showed that 13 staff of the FCC colluded with 2 banking staff of the Commerce and Mortgage Bank (CMB) to defraud the FCC of about Four Billion (Old) Leones between 2022 and 2025. He said the said staff diverted payments that were meant for the Council to an account that was opened for the FCC Football Club.
The Commissioner said the top management of the Council discovered that there were discrepancies in certain monies that were not reflected in the Council’s general account, emphasizing that “this investigation started with the Freetown City Council, checking its system.”
He said it was during the FCC investigation that the ACC became aware of the issue and the Commission’s investigations team intervened to dissect the problem, and they were able to make discoveries that the revenue streams of the FCC were seriously under attack. “When cheques are written in the name of Freetown City Council, and given to a particular revenue generating department in the Council, somehow, they found a way to make sure that that money is paid into the football account and distributed among themselves,” he stated.
He said the football account was set up in 2019 for the welfare and management of the club. He said the FCC management decided to give autonomy to the football team.
The Commissioner said that the FCC staff colluded with bankers at the CMB to perpetrate these heinous acts of corruption. He urged the banks to take conscious measures to protect government revenue and the savings of customers, and warned that banks will face serious consequences for the actions of their staff.
Mr Kaifala said that the persons involved in the syndicate have been arrested; many of them have been in custody, while some have been granted bail. He continued that “most of them have confessed, and some of them have started returning the money.” He warned that these will be followed by other serious consequences. He said the funds recovered from the investigations will be paid back to the FCC.
