By Fatima Kpaka
Pierra Martin Gomez, who was accused of defrauding an American citizen Frezin Nickson over US$45,000 has denied the allegations, stating that he did not defraud anyone.
He explained that he and the complainant Nickson operated a company involved in the mining of gold.
Gomez added that Nickson is his long-term friend, and they agreed to operate a mining business in Kabala, adding that Nickson has 70% of the share in the company and he has 30% share.
Gomez further showed documents indicating monies that he received from Nickson and also provided valid documents on how he spent the money.
He further explained and produced documents indicating how he used the said money to procure the land where the mining took place and also bought an excavator machine to do the mining.
He also produced documents showing the salaries of workers they employed.
He also produced documents showing paid-up slips for the accommodation of workers including himself and Nickson when he usually visits the country.
Gomez also confirmed that during the mining activities, they were able to get some amount of gold which he handed over to Nickson who went with them to America to sell, adding that Nickson sold the said gold without giving him any money for them.
He also produced documents showing that he paid for land at Lungi where Nickson said he wanted to do agriculture. He said that on the first instance, they planted pepper, but the harvest was poor.
Gomez also confirmed that Nickson was also with them during the mining and the agriculture work and knew what happened to the mining and the harvesting of the pepper at Lungi.
He said Nickson has also confirmed to him that he had sold the excavator machine for US$25,000 and he has not received any money from him because both established the business.