7 foreigners in court for defrauding TCRA of 459m/-

SEVEN foreigners appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam, yesterday, charged with several counts relating to fraudulent use of communication network and occasioning loss of 459m/- to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) and the government.

They are: Dilshad Ahmed (36), Rohail Yaqoob (47), Khalid Mahmood (59), Ashfaq Ahmed (38), Muhamad Aneess (48), Imtiaz Ammar (33), who are Pakistan nationals and Ramesh Kandasamy (36) from Sri-Lanka.

They were not allowed to enter plea to the charges before Principal Resident Magistrate Wilbard Mashauri, as they are facing economic charges.

The magistrate ordered them to remain in remand as his court lacked jurisdiction to termine any bail application. He directed the accused persons to the Economic, Corruption and Organised Crime High Court’s Division to seek bail if they so wished.

Magistrate Mashauri adjourned the case to March 19, for mention, as investigations into the matter, according to the prosecution, have not been completed.

Other counts include conspiracy to commit offences, importation and installation of electronic communication equipment without a licence, use of unapproved electronic equipment and operating electronic communications without a licence and conspiracy to commit an offence.

The prosecution led by Senior State Attorneys Nassoro Katuga and Johanes Karungura, an attorney from TCRA, alleged that on or before November 2016, within the City of Dar es Salaam, all accused persons conspired to commit an offence of fraudulently using network facilities.