FORMER Director of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation with the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Kulthum Mansoor has renewed her request to enter plea bargaining agreement with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to end the 1.4bn/-economic crime trial.
This was revealed by defence counsel Elia Mwingira at the Kisutu Resident Magistrates’ Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday when the economic and money laundering trial, which the then PCCB director is facing, came up for mention.
He disclosed that Kulthum had, once again, written to the DPP, expressing her intention to negotiate with him with a view to disposing of the trial summarily. According to the High Court advocate, negotiations were going on well.
For his part, Senior State Attorney, Wankyo Simon informed Resident Magistrate Vick Mwaikambo that investigation into the case had not been completed. He, thus, sought for another mention date. The magistrate granted the request and adjourned the case until March 16, 2020.
In October 2019, the former PCCB director joined the boat of persons indicted on economic and money laundering charges to seek a presidential pardon promised by President John Magufuli for those who honestly accept to return the money they had stolen or the tax they had evaded. She wrote to the DPP, showing her intention to enter the plea bargaining.
Such a move was in line with Section 194A (2) of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA). However, a month later the deal aborted for unknown reasons. Mr Mwingira informed the court that the negotiations leading to the plea bargaining had not been fully reached.
In the case, Kulthum is charged with eight counts of forgery, obtaining money by false pretences and money laundering, totalling 1,477,243,000/-. Such offences are alleged to have been committed between January 2012 and May 2017 in the city of Dar es Salaam.
The prosecution alleges that between January 2013 and May 2018 at the PCCB headquarters in Ilala District, knowingly and with intent to deceive, the director forged a letter of offer, purporting to show that it was issued by Bagamoyo District Council, while it was untrue.
Between January 2012 and May 2017 in Upanga, Ilala District, being the PCCB director, by false pretences and with intent to defraud, obtained 32.2m/-from different employees, Alex Mavika, Wakati Katondo, Gogo Migutah, Ekwabi Majungu, John Sangwa and Rose Shingela.
Such an amount, according to the prosecution, was payment for the sale of a plot situated at Ukuni Village in Bagamoyo District, Coast Region, with the accused falsely pretending to be the owner of the plot, which she knew to be false.
On money laundering, the prosecution charges Kulthum that between January 2013 and May 2017 in Upanga, Ilala District, acquired 1,477,243,000/-while she knew or ought to have known at the time of receipt the money was the proceeds of a predicate offence of forgery.
