Sierra Leone bank director charged with fraud
Head of state-run bank in Sierra Leone charged with fraud, ordered held until next court date
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) -- Sierra Leone prosecutors have charged the managing director of a government-owned bank and 13 other officials with attempting to steal around $6 million.
Crispin Bishop Deigh, the managing director of Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, was one of nine officials charged Wednesday afternoon with attempting to defraud the bank of $4.8 million. The officials were denied bail until their next court date next week.
In a separate case, four people were also charged Wednesday with attempting to steal just over $1 million from First International Bank.
Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, head of Sierra Leone's Anti-Corruption Commission, said both cases were evidence of "wanton greed."
Corruption is widespread in Sierra Leone, which was No. 123 out of 176 countries on Transparency International's most recent corruptions perceptions index.
