Financial Judicial Pool: The fake 3.2 billion CFA franc land deal that sent four people to prison

Arrested by the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) in a forgery case involving land located in Dakar-Plateau, Messrs. A. Diop, S. Fallou Diop, A. Sambe, and M. Fall have been remanded in custody. According to Seneweb, following their appearance before the financial prosecutor's office, Prosecutor Abdoulaye Sylla opened a judicial inquiry. The case was assigned to the judge of the 4th chamber, who formally charged them and placed them in pretrial detention.

A. Diop, S. Fallou Diop, A. Sambe, and M. Fall were arrested on September 29th by the DIC (Criminal Investigation Division) for conspiracy, forgery and use of forged official documents, and attempted fraud. This followed a complaint filed by a notary denouncing forgery in connection with an attempted sale of a 1,408 m² plot of undeveloped land in Dakar-Plateau, registered under Land Title No. 6504/DK. The land, owned by a French couple, is valued at 3,200,000,000 CFA francs.

A. Diop presented himself as a resident of France, acting as an agent. He approached the notary's office to transfer ownership of the property, which belonged to French nationals who had been deceased for several decades. To this end, he produced a duplicate of the land title and a power of attorney purportedly drawn up by a notary practicing in France.

Having doubts about the authenticity of the documents produced, the notary's office contacted the French notary who was supposed to have drawn them up. However, she categorically stated that she was neither the author nor the signatory, thus calling into question the authenticity of the power of attorney and the documents presented.

To catch him, A. Diop was set up by the DIC detectives. The land buyer arranged a meeting with him to finalize the sale. He was arrested along with his accomplices.

A. Diop acknowledged having taken the steps relating to the sale and stated that he held his power of attorney from his principal, Mr. Marhane, established in France, who had given him the power of attorney and the documents relating to the property.

But he claimed to be unaware of their fraudulent nature and that, at the time of his arrest, a preliminary sales agreement had just been signed and a deposit of 320 million CFA francs was due. He also admitted that he was entitled to a 10% commission on the transaction amount.

When asked to provide Mr. Marhane's telephone contact details, he was unable to give them to the investigators.

For his part, Mr. Fall denied any direct involvement in the operation, maintaining that he had merely advised and accompanied his brother-in-law, A. Diop, to the notary, without receiving any financial compensation. However, an examination of his phone records revealed several exchanges related to the transaction, including the price per square meter, the status of property rights, transfer fees, and notarial procedures, demonstrating his knowledge of several aspects of the operation.

SF Diop, a self-proclaimed transporter, confessed to having acted as an intermediary at the request of A. Diop and that he transmitted documents received from the latter to the notary and carried out certain administrative procedures relating to the property.

Faced with the alleged fraudulent nature of the documents and the exchanges found in the WhatsApp group called "Inheritance File", he maintained that he was unaware of their false nature and claimed to have acted as an intermediary in order to collect a commission after the sale was completed.

A. Sambe, for his part, admitted to acting as an intermediary at the request of his cousin K. Sambe and to accompanying the various parties to the notary's office. He also stated that a 6% commission, to be shared among the intermediaries, had been agreed upon. However, he denied signing any document, being aware of the fraudulent nature of the documents produced, or having been informed of any payments made by the buyers.