The Gambia government has taken possession of the properties of Amadou Samba, Tarek Musa, Muhammad Bazzi and 11 others including two leading banks in The Gambia for financial improprieties and corruption involving the former president Yahya Jammeh.

The 14 individuals and companies, all household names in The Gambia, were found to have acted unlawfully in financial transactions with the former president Yahya Jammeh and helped him launder stolen public funds by the Janneh Commission of Inquiry.

The Commission Report was released on Friday by the Gambia Government with a White Paper setting out its course of action in implementing the recommendations and findings of the Commission.

The Commission found the 14 named individuals and companies to have helped former President Yahya Jammeh embezzled over a billion dalasi, 304 million Dollars, 29 million Euros, and 2 million Pounds Sterling from the public funds respectively.

The named individuals and companies are Amadou Samba, Tarek Musa; Fadi Mazegi; Illija Reymond; Martin Keller; Nicolae Buziainu; Dragos Buziainu; Ali Youssef Sharara; Woreh Njie Ceesay; Tony Ghattas; Feryale Diab Ghanem; Trust Bank Ltd; Guaranty Trust Bank (Gambia) Ltd and M.A. Kharafi and Sons.”

The government accused them of profiting from the financial improprieties of former president Yahya Jammeh and gave them 30 days of the publication of the White Paper to repay the stolen monies or forfeited their properties to the State.

The government said the former president’s close associates including Amadou Samba, Tarek K Musa, Muhammad Bazzi all enjoyed favoured status with regards to government contracts without going through procurements and tenders.

According to the Report D431, 502, 702 was paid to TK Motors by the Jammeh government “for the purchase of vehicles from 2009 to 2016 without compliance with any procurement rules and mostly on credit that was not based on any contractual or other legal basis.

“The Commission found that TK Xsport was given a contract to supply gold coins to former president Yahya Jammeh and the sum of $129, 375 was illegally made from a GNPC Dollar Account at the Guaranty Trust Bank.

“The Commission also found that on 26th June 2015, $3,642,000 was transferred from the Mobicell Blue Ocean Co Ltd account at GT Bank to a TK Xsport account. The transaction document states that the transfer was for Vision 2016 farm equipment.

“This transaction was signed by Mr Bala Jassey as sole signatory. The Commission has elsewhere in the Report found that these monies provided as a bribe to former president Jammeh by MGI Telecom AG, Mobicell Blue Ocean Co Ltd.

“The government accepts that Tarek Musa was overpaid by D25,444,897.70 and D13, 322,500.00 for the supply of vehicles in the years 2010 and 2012 respectively.”