Magistrate Convicts Businessman of Stealing Ceramic Tiles Valued at D12 Million

The Banjul Magistrates’ Court has convicted businessman Modou Lamin Baldeh of stealing five containers of ceramic wall tiles valued at US$175,000, equivalent to D12,075,000.

Principal Magistrate Krubally delivered the judgment on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, finding Baldeh guilty of theft contrary to Section 252 of the Criminal Code.

The court held that Baldeh had exceeded his limited authority to help find buyers for the tiles and had dishonestly disposed of the goods without the owner’s consent or remitting the proceeds.

He was fined D100,000 and ordered to compensate the complainant, Mam Begay S. Jagne, D12,075,000. The court also ordered him to make an additional restitution payment of D500,000.

In default of paying the fine, Baldeh will serve one year in prison. Failure to pay the compensation will result in a further four-year prison term. The sentences are to run consecutively.

The case began on August 21, 2024, when prosecutors applied to amend the charge sheet to reflect the value of the allegedly stolen property as D12,075,000 and to identify Mam Begay S. Jagne as the complainant. The court granted both applications.

Prosecutors alleged that between April and July 2024, Baldeh stole five 20-foot containers of ceramic wall tiles imported into The Gambia.

The containers, which carried a combined 120 packages, were identified by the following numbers: FSCU3634060, MEDU1395905, MEDU2604614, MEDU2958259 and MSDU1927245.

The tiles belonged to Amadou Ganilla, whose interests were represented in The Gambia by Jagne.

Baldeh pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of D12,075,000. The bail conditions required him to provide a leased property of equivalent value and two responsible Gambian sureties.

The prosecution called six witnesses, including the complainant, the clearing agent, two purchasers, the warehouse owner and the police investigator.

Jagne, a hotel front-office manager based in Washington, D.C., testified that she travelled to The Gambia on behalf of Ganilla after the containers, which arrived in November 2023, remained uncleared because of financial disagreements involving the clearing agent.

She said she paid the outstanding shipping, customs and port charges and later appointed her brother, Assan Sinyang, through a power of attorney to oversee the goods in her absence.

According to Jagne, Baldeh was introduced to her by clearing agent Suaibou Sanneh as someone who could help find buyers for the tiles.

She said an asking price of US$175,000 was agreed for all five containers, on the condition that any sale would be conducted in the presence of her brother.

Jagne testified that she later became concerned about the manner in which Baldeh was handling the goods, including the storage arrangements and associated costs.

She told the court that Baldeh eventually claimed to have sold the tiles. When questioned, however, he initially maintained that some of the goods remained in storage.

Her brother was allegedly denied access to the warehouse when he attempted to inspect the tiles. When access was later secured, the warehouse was found empty.

Jagne said Baldeh apologised and repeatedly promised to pay her the US$175,000 but failed to do so. She subsequently reported the matter to the Police Intervention Unit.

Sanneh, the clearing agent, corroborated key parts of Jagne’s testimony.

He said that although the bill of lading listed him as the consignee, the goods belonged to Ganilla, who had instructed him to clear them.

Sanneh testified that Baldeh became involved after seeing that the containers had been listed for auction. He expressed an interest in finding buyers, and Jagne later reduced the asking price to US$175,000.

Sanneh said Baldeh was allowed to manage the storage and assist with finding buyers, but any transaction was to take place in the presence of Jagne’s brother.

He added that Jagne later called him in distress, claiming that Baldeh had sold the tiles without paying her.

When confronted, Sanneh said, Baldeh admitted supplying the tiles to several customers and claimed he was trying to recover money from them.

Omar Jeng, one of the purchasers, testified that Baldeh had previously owed him money connected to newspaper purchases.

According to Jeng, Baldeh offered ceramic tiles as repayment and supplied him with 3,419 cartons in two instalments.

Jeng said the first delivery consisted of 2,553 cartons valued at D300 each, while the second consisted of 866 cartons valued at D250 each.

Despite receiving the tiles, Jeng testified that Baldeh still owed him more than D900,000.

Another witness, Abdou Karim Sowe, told the court that Baldeh claimed to have ceramic tiles for sale and urgently needed money.

Although Sowe said he was not initially interested in buying tiles, he agreed to assist Baldeh financially and advanced him approximately D500,000.

The warehouse owner, Alagie Muhammed Waggeh, testified that Baldeh personally approached him to rent space for the tiles.

Waggeh said Baldeh arranged for the containers to be transported to the warehouse, supervised the offloading and regularly brought prospective buyers to inspect the goods.

He also testified that Baldeh authorised the release of cartons whenever sales were made.

According to Waggeh, Baldeh paid part of the warehouse rent but later accumulated arrears. All the tiles were eventually removed, although an outstanding rental balance remained unpaid.

Inspector Abdoulie Sabally of the Serious Crime Unit testified that Baldeh admitted taking possession of the five containers under an arrangement to sell them for US$175,000.

Sabally said one of the agreed conditions was that Assan Sinyang had to be present whenever a sale took place.

However, the police investigation found that Baldeh disposed of the tiles without Sinyang’s presence or consent.

When investigators visited the warehouse in Kanifing, it was empty, and none of the tiles was recovered.

In his defence, Baldeh denied stealing the goods.

He testified that he had been introduced to the complainant and the clearing agent as someone capable of finding buyers for the tiles.

He said Jagne was facing mounting expenses related to clearing, transportation and storage and that he agreed to help market the goods.

Baldeh claimed he personally paid substantial sums for transportation, warehouse rent, labour and other logistical expenses with Jagne’s knowledge.

He maintained that he had been authorised to sell the tiles and that there was no restriction preventing him from dealing directly with buyers.

He argued that the matter was a commercial dispute involving disagreements over ownership, valuation and the reimbursement of expenses, rather than a criminal case.

Baldeh called two witnesses: shipping agent Maska Suso, who testified about the release of the containers from the port, and businessman Bablu Singh Soni, who said he purchased 866 cartons of tiles from a man identified as Baboucarr for D216,500.

In his judgment, Magistrate Krubally found that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The magistrate held that Jagne had a sufficient proprietary interest in the containers, even though she was not named as the consignor or consignee in the shipping documents.

The evidence, he said, established that she was acting on behalf of the beneficial owner, Ganilla, and had been entrusted with the management and disposal of the goods.

On the question of Baldeh’s authority, the court found that he had been engaged only to help find buyers and had exceeded that authority by independently selling the tiles without consulting Jagne or her brother.

The magistrate questioned why Baldeh had sold the tiles without consulting the complainant’s representative, failed to remit the proceeds and did not inform the complainant that the goods had been sold.

The court found that Baldeh offered no satisfactory explanation for his conduct.

Magistrate Krubally concluded that Baldeh had secretly disposed of the tiles with the intention of permanently depriving the owner of the goods.

He rejected the defence’s argument that the matter was merely a commercial dispute, ruling that Baldeh could not rely on a business disagreement to excuse what the court found to be fraudulent and dishonest conduct.

In mitigation, Baldeh’s lawyer told the court that he was a first-time offender, had two wives and eight children and operated a business that employed Gambians.

Counsel said Baldeh regretted the circumstances that led to the case and wished to turn over a new leaf.

The defence also submitted that several containers had been recovered.

However, Magistrate Krubally described Baldeh’s conduct as aggravating, noting that it had caused the complainant substantial financial hardship and economic loss.

Under the Criminal Offences Act 2025 and the Criminal Procedure Act 2025, the court imposed a fine of D100,000, with a default sentence of one year in prison.

Baldeh was also ordered to compensate Jagne D12,075,000, with a four-year prison term in default, and to pay an additional D500,000 in restitution.

The custodial sentences will run consecutively.