Thiès: A Jakarta driver steals his passenger's phone, empties his Wave account, and sells the device.

Jakarta motorcycle driver O. Samb appeared before the Thiès court of summary jurisdiction to answer for the theft of a telephone.

According to the evidence presented in court, O. Samb was transporting T. Diallo on his motorcycle. Upon arrival at their destination, the passenger wanted to pay the fare via Wave. The driver then asked him to hand over his phone to scan the code required for the transaction.

Once he had the phone in his hands, O. Samb abruptly started his motorcycle and sped off with the device. He didn't stop there. He also emptied the victim's Wave account, which contained 69,000 FCFA.

After committing the crime, the driver went and sold the phone to C. Diouf, a phone repairman, for the sum of 25,000 FCFA.

Charged with receiving stolen goods, C. Diouf admitted to buying the device. In court, he explained that O. Samb had come to his shop and told him he wanted to sell his phone to pay for prescriptions. "He made me believe the phone belonged to him and that he was selling it to solve his financial problems," he stated. He specified that it was the first time O. Samb had sold him a phone. C. Diouf then indicated that he resold the device for 35,000 FCFA.

For his part, the victim, T. Diallo, stated that he had purchased the phone for 300,000 FCFA. He also declared that his Wave account had been debited 69,000 FCFA after the theft. He is claiming 469,000 FCFA in damages.

In his submissions, the public prosecutor requested a six-month prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 FCFA against O. Samb. Against C. Diouf, the prosecution requested two months in prison and a fine of 100,000 FCFA.

The case has been adjourned for deliberation.