By Landing Ceesay
In compliance with an order from Hon. Justice Ebrima Jaiteh of the High Court of the Gambia, Eco Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank have submitted Aisha Fatty’s account details to the court.
On May 8, 2024, Justice Jaiteh directed Eco Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank to produce the bank statements of Aisha Fatty, the 1st defendant.
This directive followed a motion filed by Abdoulaye Thiam’s legal team, requesting the court to compel the banks to provide specific account statements.
In their motion dated May 2, 2024, Thiam’s legal representatives sought a court order for the Managing Director of Eco Bank Gambia Ltd to furnish statements of accounts belonging to Aisha Fatty, particularly those associated with account numbers 624******* and 624******, which are currently under court attachment. They also requested similar statements from Guaranty Trust Bank.
On June 9, 2024, GT Bank’s Legal Officer, Eric Samuel Ketter, provided the court with Aisha Fatty’s bank statement.
“We have the account statement ordered by the court,” Counsel Eric Samuel Ketter informed the court.
Copies of the statements were given to both Abdoulaye Thiam’s legal team and Aisha Fatty’s legal team for verification.
After reviewing the bank statements from GT Bank, Abdoulaye Thiam’s Lead Counsel, Lamin A. Ceesay, confirmed their satisfaction with the documents provided by GT Bank, stating they were in order.
Regarding Aisha Fatty’s statements from Eco Bank, Hon. Justice Jaiteh noted that the assistant registrar had received a letter from Eco Bank containing details of two accounts: a Dalasi account and a Euro account.
“My lord, now that the documents are before the court, we want the court to admit them into evidence,” Counsel Lamin A. Ceesay, Lead Counsel for Abdoulaye Thiam told the court.
Lead Counsel for Aisha Fatty, Counsel Kaddijatou Jallow objected to the admissibility of her client’s Bank statements from GT Bank and Eco Bank.
“If my lord is considering admitting these documents, we are objecting to them vehemently,” Counsel K. Jallow told the court.
However, Hon. Justice Jaiteh did not allow Counsel K. Jallow to present her argument regarding the admissibility of the bank statements.
Hon. Justice Jaiteh stated that he would not entertain arguments concerning documents produced by the two banks.
“The documents are not coming from the Plaintiff Counsel, it is coming from the Banks and not the Bar. If it is coming from the Bar, I would subject it to cross-examination. But these documents are produced to the court by the Banks and I will not entertain any argument over it,” Hon. Justice Jaiteh told Counsel K. Jallow, Lead Counsel for Aisha Fatty.
Justice Jaiteh admitted into evidence Aisha Fatty’s bank statements from Guaranty Trust Bank dated from October 22, 2013, to May 30, 2024, marking them as exhibit P12, pages 1 to 288.
He also admitted into evidence the Eco Bank statements related to Metro Hair business and Euro account, marking them as exhibit P13 (a). The Euro account details span from September 15, 2021, to April 30, 2024.
Furthermore, Justice Jaiteh admitted the Dalasi account details from Eco Bank dated from March 21, 2019, to May 18, 2024, marking them as exhibit P13 (b).
The case was adjourned to July 17, 2024, for continuation.