“I considered her my mother”: High-betrayal case shakes Touba

Touba trader A. Diop says she lost more than 20 million CFA francs after helping D. Lo, a 62-year-old widow she considered a mother, finance an inheritance that the widow said was tied up in administrative difficulties. Diop reportedly took out loans, including one from Baobab Bank, and pawned her jewelry; she says she handed over as much as 12 million CFA francs without repayment and later learned she needed 15 million to recover the jewelry. Jeweler B. Thiam, 52, is also accused over his role in the transactions and of running an unlicensed financial establishment. At their October 22 hearing in Diourbel, the defendants blamed each other, and the prosecutor sought six months in prison for each.