The Dakar criminal court has ruled in the case of the Oryx gas station in Bambilor. The station's manager, ML Ndiaye, was found guilty of conspiracy, armed robbery, and breach of trust, receiving a two-year prison sentence. This polygamous father had orchestrated a fraudulent scheme to conceal a significant financial shortfall by staging a fake burglary at the expense of his employer, for an estimated amount of 25 million CFA francs, reports Les Échos, which attended the hearing.

During questioning by the investigating magistrate, the newspaper continues, the defendant confessed, admitting that he had concocted this scheme to conceal his financial shortcomings, which had begun with an initial shortfall of 5 million. However, in court, the manager radically changed his defense strategy. He attempted to justify the initial deficit by citing fuel sales on credit granted to boost the station's business, before maintaining his claim that the theft of the 25 million had been a genuine assault. "It was while I was at the station taking inventory around 9 a.m. that I was attacked in the offices before the day's takings were stolen," he told the judges, specifying that the amount stolen was actually between 18 and 19 million CFA francs and that there was "no security" on the premises.

This version was vigorously contested by the plaintiffs. Oryx's lawyer, Mamadou Ciss, quoted in the daily newspaper, denounced internal complicity also involving a gas station attendant, calling it a calculated maneuver that forced the company to initiate legal proceedings.

For his part, the same source adds, defense attorney Maguette Sène had to concede the obvious, admitting that his client had made "the mistake of staging a robbery to conceal a deficit," while pleading for leniency from the court and reminding everyone that the defendant had already begun repaying part of the sums owed. Partially following the prosecutor's recommendation of a three-year prison sentence, the court ultimately convicted the manager. Ndiaye will also have to pay 30 million to the Oryx company in compensation for the damages suffered.