On Wednesday, November 12, Mr. Hatoum, deputy manager of the company TAMAN SÉNÉGAL, brought his employee, 31-year-old S. Dione, to the Jaxaay district police station. This sales representative for the company, which specializes in credit distribution, money transfers, and mobile money services (Wave and Free Money), is being prosecuted for fraud and breach of trust involving approximately 50 million CFA francs.

S. Dione worked for TAMAN SENEGAL under a service contract. As a sales representative, he was responsible for managing the Keur Massar and Malika areas, which gave him significant responsibility in handling funds.

An anomaly detected after three months

It was three months ago that Mr. Hatoum began to notice an abnormal drop in the commissions collected by the company. These revenues no longer corresponded to the amounts of transactions carried out by agents in the field.

Intrigued by this situation, the assistant manager decided to conduct an inventory of the working capital. It was then that he discovered a colossal shortfall: thirty-eight million one hundred nineteen thousand five hundred ( 38,119,500 ) CFA francs in the funds, comprising both electronic value units (UVs) and cash, which had been given to S. Dione.

Faced with this shortfall, the employee immediately acknowledged the lost earnings. He even signed an acknowledgment of debt to the company. However, he never honored this repayment commitment, which prompted the company to take legal action, according to Seneweb sources.

The passion for sports betting was the cause of the hijacking.

When questioned by investigators, S. Dione readily admitted to the charges against him. Analysis of his two mobile phones revealed the cause of the embezzlement: an addiction to gambling, particularly sports betting.

Police discovered several online betting applications on his devices, including MELBET, 1XBET, PARIPESA, and BET ONLINE. Even more troubling, the accused regularly placed large bets, sometimes reaching one million CFA francs. He also admitted to using company funds to fuel his gambling addiction.

A cascade of complaints reveals the scale of the scam

During his detention, the case took on an even more serious dimension. Indeed, more than a dozen people came to the Jaxaay police station to file complaints against S. Dione for similar offenses.

All the victims gave the same account. The accused had contacted them by phone, asking them to transfer him units of value, claiming that the company no longer had any. In return, he promised to reimburse them either in cash or in units of value as soon as the company replenished its account.

Promises he never kept.

The total amount defrauded from all these individuals is estimated at approximately fifty million ( 50,000,000 ) CFA francs. However, according to Seneweb sources close to the case, he only gambled a portion of the money online.

When questioned again about these new allegations, S. Dione also admitted to them unequivocally. His custody, which ended on Friday, has been extended for another 48 hours, scheduled to end on Sunday.

The unscrupulous salesman will be brought before the prosecutor at the Pikine-Guédiawaye High Court tomorrow, Monday, to answer charges of breach of trust and fraud. This case illustrates once again the devastating effects of gambling addiction and the problems it can cause in the workplace.