Diamaguène: Unmasked at a money transfer point, a fake police officer abandons his vehicle

An attempted scam targeting a money transfer point was thwarted this Friday thanks to the vigilance of a manager and his employer. The individual, suspected of committing a similar robbery a few weeks earlier in Thiaroye, fled, abandoning his vehicle at the scene. Investigators discovered several identity documents belonging to third parties inside the vehicle. An investigation has been opened following the advice of Public Prosecutor Saliou Dicko.

It was around 4 p.m. when the Diamaguène Sicap-Mbao district police station received a phone call from Mr. Sall, the owner of several money transfer points in the Dakar suburbs. He had just been informed by his employee, B. Sakho, manager of the Diamaguène transfer point, that an individual had come to his counter impersonating a police officer, claiming to be there to carry out an inspection.

It was then that Mr. Sall remembered a similar incident that had occurred a few weeks earlier. The manager of his transfer point in Thiaroye had been the victim of a robbery and fraud perpetrated by an individual who also presented himself as a police officer and pretended to be conducting a check, before stealing the sum of 400,000 CFA francs.

Convinced he was dealing with the same person, Mr. Sall asked his employee to detain the individual until he arrived at the scene. Sensing he had been found out, the individual fled, abandoning his vehicle.

The duty warrant officer, accompanied by police officers, went to the scene. There he found the vehicle, a white Citroën, whose doors were unlocked, unlike the steering wheel, which was locked with a steering lock. A search of the vehicle revealed several documents and items: a driver's license in the name of BM Guèye; a vehicle registration document (CIAT) in the name of S. Gaye; two cell phones, a Samsung and an Itel (one basic, the other Android); and a professional card from the Directorate of Livestock and Agricultural Organizations (DAOA) issued by the Ministry of Livestock and Animal Production in the name of MA Ba.