Mbour High Court: A hotel tenant claims to have bought the hotel and produces false documents to claim ownership.

Accused of attempting to fraudulently seize a 22-room hotel in Warang by using a forged deed of sale to claim ownership, Abdourahmane Sy Thiam faces three years in prison. The defendant, who was initially a tenant of the establishment, allegedly tried to dispossess its true owner, according to charges brought before the Mbour High Court.

This is a bizarre case that was brought to trial in a summary proceeding involving forgery and use of forged documents, in addition to breach of trust. The case pits Fatoumata Tall against Abdourahmane Sy Thiam. Acting on behalf of her husband, El Hadj Mouhamed G. Cissé, who has been ill and bedridden for several years, she is demanding the return of the 1,270 m² hotel property acquired by her husband on October 22, 2010, through a notarized deed, for the sum of 70 million CFA francs.

According to Ms. Tall, after several years of family ownership, the hotel was leased to Abdourahmane Sy Thiam starting January 1, 2024, for a period of three years. The monthly rent, initially set at one million CFA francs, was reduced to 700,000 CFA francs at the tenant's request.

On March 23, 2026, the family initiated a precautionary seizure procedure to obtain payment of outstanding debts. It was while going to the Malicounda town hall to verify the lease registration that Fatoumata Tall says she discovered the hotel had been assigned to Abdourahmane Sy Thiam, while the plot of land belonging to her husband was listed as vacant. In court, she asserted that her husband had never transferred ownership of the hotel to Thiam and that he owed her back rent.

But Abdourahmane Sy Thiam remains adamant. He claims to have completely renovated the hotel for an investment of 70 million CFA francs. According to him, El Hadj Mouhamed G. Cissé offered to sell him the property for 7 million CFA francs, payable in installments. He also stated that on October 1, 2024, he initiated procedures with the Land Registry Service in Mbour and the State Property Commission in Malicounda. He maintains that the land was not registered in the Mbour land registry and belonged to the State. He claims he subsequently obtained a regularization of the plot in his name from the Malicounda Municipal Council.

However, investigators noted an inconsistency in the documents produced: the deed of sale presented by the defendant is dated January 15, 2023, while the lease agreement signed with the family of his alleged owner is dated January 1, 2024 and covers a period of three years.

When questioned about this contradiction, Abdourahmane Sy Thiam had stated during the investigation that he preferred not to answer. In court, he finally referred to a "compromise" between himself and the plaintiff.

In his closing arguments, the public prosecutor argued that the charges of breach of trust were substantiated. He noted, in particular, that the defendant had accumulated 19,905,000 CFA francs in arrears after approximately one year of operation, yet had paid only three million CFA francs to the plaintiff. The prosecution also maintained that the signature on the transfer agreement had been forged and that this document had enabled him to obtain other administrative documents. He requested a three-year prison sentence.

The plaintiff, represented by attorney Oumar Sène, denounced the case as a "scam." The lawyer emphasized the lack of proof of payment of the seven million CFA francs claimed by the defendant, deeming it highly improbable that a hotel acquired for 70 million CFA francs before a notary could have been sold for only seven million. He demanded 100 million CFA francs in damages.

Defense attorney Serigne Diongue acknowledged the seriousness of creating documents based on a forged document, while denying that his client had defrauded the plaintiff. He pleaded for leniency from the court, citing in particular the defendant's state of health, which he described as gravely ill.

Maitre Sène also revisited a previous case involving Abdourahmane Sy Thiam and two other hotel owners in Warang, Ndeye Khady Céline Diouf and Kadia Azar.

The defendant allegedly used a similar method to take control of their hotels, even going so far as to evict the security guards by claiming a lease agreement. These actions earned him a six-month prison sentence, an arrest warrant, and 25 million CFA francs in damages.

The verdict is expected on November 17, 2026.