A best friend of President George Manneh Weah, Ousmane Bamba and the head of a Liberian registered Gold Mining Company, Amara Kamara have been accused of duping an International firm, Candy Group International (CGI) of two million euros.
According to an investigation, on April 8, 2020, Candy Group International signed a contract worth Millions of Euros with the HAMAK MINING COMPANY, in the offices of a man claiming to be President George Weah’s advisor, Mr. Ousmane Bamba based in Ivory Coast.
The contract signed in the offices of Bamba in the Ivory Coast was allegedly intended to invest in a Liberia Gold mining concession belonging to HAMAK MINING COMPANY on a joint venture basis.
During the contract signing ceremonies, Candy Group International was represented by its subsidiary IFG TCHAD, pending the incorporation of a local office in Monrovia, Liberia.
Officials of Candy Group International told investigators that the main motivation, in addition to the opportunity to invest in Liberia, was that the purported Mr. Ousmane Bamba who claimed to be President Weah’s advisor assured them that their investment would be secured personally by President Weah and that one Mr. Amara Kamara, the head of Hamak was allegedly introduced to them as the President’s little brother.
The CGI officials also stated that Ousmane Bamba and Amara Kamara of Hamak presented GTBank Liberia to them as independently managing their international transactions and gave them Hamak account numbers with the bank.
The CGI officials re-emphasized that the joint venture contract was signed in Abidjan, in the presence of the two others in the “advisor’s offices.”
According to CGI, on March 10, 2020, they made a transfer of €2 million via Barclays Bank UK. The amount they stated was to facilitate the opening of a local office in Monrovia.
They said after the amount was wired, Amara Kamara and GT Bank in agreement insisted that Barclays Bank confirms the transfer by a swift so that his account is credited. This they said they did. “We sent him a copy of the confirmation swift.”
Officials of the company said since then, the discourse of Mr. Amara Kamara and GT Bank have changed-questioning the authenticity of the transaction.
The officials narrated that GTBank and Kamara would “refer us all the time to CITIBANK. CITIBANK was the intermediary bank for GTBank which was very passive in the transaction.”
CGI states that Based to avoid any suspicion from them, “we insisted on the need for them to have our transaction verified by any independent third party he wants. They went to ECOBANK, which confirmed the authenticity of the transaction and the availability of funds in Liberia.” But since that time, they have failed to acknowledge receipt of the money. Amara and GT Bank have since denied they received the funds. Investigation continues.
