By Saidu Kargbo
Freetown, 11th August 2026- Defence team in the ongoing fraud case against Admire Bio Jalloh and Dauda Jalloh has filed a no-case submission, urging the court to discharge the defendants on all eleven charges.
Lead defence counsel, Melron Nicol-Wilson, submitted the written application last Thursday at Pademba Road Magistrate Court No. 1, following instructions from Magistrate Mustapha Briama Jah. He argued that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence to warrant sending the matter to the High Court for trial.
Nicol-Wilson contended that the charge of conspiracy to defraud lacked evidence of any agreement between the defendants and a third party. He further noted that the complainant received three kilograms of gold but failed to test it to confirm whether it was genuine.
On the counts of obtaining money by false pretence, involving sums of US$100,000, US$110,000, and US$15,750, the defence maintained that the complainant did not establish that payments were made based on false representations by the Jallohs. Nicol-Wilson also objected to what he described as “incorrect legal provisions” cited in the charges.
Regarding the allegation of conspiracy to rob, the defence argued that no evidence placed the defendants at the scene of the alleged robbery or linked them to any conspiracy. He referenced the involvement of a man identified as Bahij Moujass, while stressing that the second defendant, Dauda Jalloh, was out of the country at the time. Police statements, flight tickets, and passport records were cited to support this claim.
On the money laundering charges, Nicol-Wilson insisted that the prosecution had not proven the funds originated from illegal activities. He argued that since the fraud and robbery allegations remained unsubstantiated, labeling the US$210,000 as money laundering was baseless.
The defence also challenged the forged document charges, noting that the receipt in question was prepared after the transaction and bore the name “GAN” rather than the defendants’ company, “DAJ Minerals.” He argued that there was no evidence connecting the defendants to GAN or proving they knowingly used a forged document.
On the charge of selling minerals without a licence, Nicol-Wilson maintained that the transaction was conducted under GAN and that no authority had proven the defendants were unauthorized dealers.
Finally, on the tax evasion count, the defence argued that since the gold was never exported, there was no export tax obligation to evade. He also referenced US$15,000 returned to the complainant by police after the alleged robbery.
The prosecution is expected to respond to the no-case submission when the matter resumes on 13th August 2026.
