Thiam Testifies of Ongoing Psychological Trauma After Aisha Fatty “Refused” to Marry Him

By Landing Ceesay 

Abdoulaye Thiam, the eighth plaintiff witness in a legal case against his former fiance, Aisha Fatty, testified that he continues to live with psychological trauma following her refusal to marry him after initially accepting his proposal.

Thiam, a Senegalese businessman, is suing Aisha Fatty, a prominent Gambian socialite, for allegedly breaking a promise of marriage. The lawsuit also includes the Inspector General of Police, Abdoulie Sanyang, as the second defendant.

In his testimony before Hon. Justice Ebrima Jaiteh at the High Court of The Gambia, Thiam recounted that he proposed to Aisha Fatty in August 2021. Afterward, they began preparations for their wedding.

“We flew to Dubai together, where I spent over $100,000.00 for our wedding preparations, we then went to Paris, France, where I spent €100,000.00 on designer bags and watches for the 1st Defendant (Aisha Fatty). A further $50,000.00 was given to the 1st Defendant to buy African clothes from Nigeria. Since our proposed wedding, I have been giving the 1st Defendant the sum of D180,000.00 every month for her maintenance. These are all gifts to the 1st Defendant.” Thiam explained.

Despite these alleged lavish preparations, the wedding scheduled for December 2021 never took place, and Thiam claims Fatty refused to proceed with the marriage. He said this not only caused significant financial losses but also immense personal embarrassment among his family and friends, who were invited to the ceremony. Thiam further stated that he remains psychologically affected by the events, impacting his reputation and well-being.

“Despite all the preparations and expenses I made in anticipation of our marriage, the 1st  Defendant failed and or refused to go ahead with the marriage, which was scheduled for December 2021. The 1st Defendant’s refusal to go ahead with our proposed marriage has caused me great financial losses, and embarrassment within my family, colleagues, and friends who were duly invited to attend our marriage. I am still psychologically troubled by the 1st Defendant’s disappointment and will continue to suffer the same and damage to my reputation if the issues herein are not resolved in my favour,” Mr. Thiam told the court. 

Mr. Thiam also testified that, in anticipation of their upcoming marriage, Aisha Fatty encouraged him to invest in a joint business venture.

As part of this plan, Thiam made arrangements to purchase two vehicles for the business: a black Mercedes Benz GLE 63 BRABUS, with registration number BJL 4222 W, which he bought in Germany for €240,000 through his company, MOTORS LAND, registered in Dakar, Senegal, and a white Mercedes Benz GLE 53, with registration number BJL 0999 W, purchased from the United States for $102,000, also through his company.

Thiam confirmed that he has invoices and proof of payment for both vehicles.

He further stated that Aisha Fatty was supposed to register the joint business in The Gambia, but she failed to do so.

“The said vehicles were shipped from America and Germany respectively to Dakar, Senegal, and I took delivery of same. Upon arrival in Dakar, the white Mercedes Benz GLE 53 was driven by my driver, Djibril Faye, and delivered to the 1st Defendant (Aisha Fatty) in The Gambia, and the black Mercedes Benz GLE 63 BRABUS was also delivered to the 1st Defendant by Djibril Faye. To my utter surprise and disappointment, I have recently learned that the 1st Defendant registered both vehicles in her name without my consent and authority, and is now claiming ownership of them,” Mr. Thiam testified. 

Mr. Thiam testified that he decided to invest in properties in The Gambia through KPI Real Estate, a company he had registered there. He explained that he negotiated with Shams Farrah, the owner of Fajara Waterfront Villas, to purchase several villas for $760,000. A contract was prepared and signed by the vendor, with the agreements placed with his lawyer for signature as he was out of the country.

To facilitate the transaction, Thiam arranged with Moukhtarr Diallo, a foreign exchange businessman in The Gambia, to deposit $380,000, equivalent to D19,500,000, upon the signing of the agreements.

Thiam claimed that Diallo handed over the D19,500,000 to Aisha Fatty on his behalf for the villa payment. Despite repeated requests from Shams Farrah for payment and the signing of the necessary documents to transfer the villas, Thiam stated that Aisha Fatty refused to make the payment. He further claimed that the money remains in her possession, and she has declined to return it to him.

“I know the 1st Defendant (Aisha Fatty) to be unemployed and has no profitable business or another source of income, so when she suggested to me to invest in gold for resale in The Gambia and to build a three-story building complex to house the gold business, and for us to rent out the other vacant spaces within the complex, I completely agreed. l also instructed Moukhtarr Diallo to give the 1st Defendant the sum of €150,000.00, on my behalf, which she said was to build the three-story building complex, but despite receiving the sum of E150,000, the 1st Defendant failed and or refused to construct the said complex as agreed. The 1st Defendant continues to withhold the said funds, and has refused to pay over same to me,” he told the court. 

Mr. Thiam further testified that, in connection with the planned gold business, he spent a total of CFA 822,000,000 (equivalent to D90,000,000) to purchase gold, which he entrusted to Aisha Fatty.

He explained that he acquired 3.53 kg of gold, valued at CFA 123,305,500, from Lakhadkhewal Gold Shop in Dakar and handed it over to Fatty for the gold venture.

Thiam also stated that he paid CFA 202,645,917 (equivalent to D202,645,917) to Bijouterie la Solution/L’isla 2 for an additional 5.75 kg of gold. This gold was delivered to The Gambia by Bocar Dia and subsequently handed over to Aisha Fatty.

Furthermore, Thiam testified that he gave Aisha Fatty CFA 180,000,000 (equivalent to One Hundred and Eighty Million CFA) in Istanbul for the purchase of gold, with the money being transferred through his Turkish partner, Nihad.

“I personally brought gold worth 316,048,583 CFA worth of gold through the Banjul International Airport where I was thoroughly questioned by immigration and customs officers regarding the gold. The same was also given to the 1st Defendant (Aisha Fatty). I now know that the money my partner Nihad gave to the 1st Defendant was never used to buy gold as anticipated. Despite receiving the money and the gold that I had bought for the business, I have received no returns from the 1st Defendant on my investment. 

“The 1st Defendant has continued to withhold my funds and the gold given to her and has refused to return same back to me despite repeated demands. I have no doubt in my mind that the 1st Defendant’s actions are fraudulent in that everything she told me about our marriage and the proposed business were falsehoods only intended to lure me into parting with my money. I understand that the 2nd Defendant has opened criminal investigations against the 1st Defendant for money laundering, and has as a result seized my vehicles namely: a black Mercedes Benz GLE 63 BRABUS with registration number BJL 4222 W, and a white Mercedes Benz GLE 53 vehicle with registration number BJL 0999 W,” Mr. Thiam said. 

Mr. Thiam testified that during the investigation conducted by the second defendant (the IGP), he discovered that Aisha Fatty had registered the vehicles in her name.

He emphasized that the vehicles were his property and were not gifts, asserting that Fatty had no right to register them in her name.

Following this, Mr. Thiam stated that he contacted Interpol and provided a statement regarding the issues in the case.

He further explained that he instructed his solicitor to formally request the police to release the vehicles back to him.

“The 2nd Defendant (IGP) has no right to seize or detain vehicles belonging to me since I am not a part of their investigations and that the said vehicles were legitimately purchased by me. I presented receipts and documents to the Police /Interpol concerning the gold, and real estate business with the 1st defendant. However, my vehicles continue to be detained with no breakthrough in the investigations relating to the gold and monies meant for the purchase of properties. I have recently learned from the 2nd Defendant that the 1st Defendant has filed a suit in the High Court of The Gambia claiming that the said vehicles belong to her. I have instructed my Solicitor to find out about the case and to advise me accordingly,” Mr. Thiam said. 

Under cross-examination, Mr. Thiam confirmed to the court that the vehicles in question were purchased in his company’s name.

The case has been adjourned to December 12th for the continuation of Mr. Thiam’s cross-examination.