Man charged with stealing over $4M in equipment from mining company

A man was yesterday charged with stealing a little over $4 million in equipment from a mining company at Tumatumari.

Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan yesterday heard the matter of Desmond Yalli, police say, stole $2,770,000 in mining equipment and a $1,300,000 generator from Mineral Processors between September 1, 2014 and June 9, 2016.

Yalli pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Attorney Paul Fung-A-Fat, who represented Yalli, told the court that his client ought to be granted bail as the stolen items were discovered five miles away from his client’s residence.

The prosecution, however, objected to bail, while noting that Yalli was employed as a security guard at the mining company.

He further stated that after being arrested, Yalli took the police to an area where they were able to recover the generator.

This was denied by Yalli, who told the court that he is not and was not employed as security but was only asked by the person in charge to watch over the items. He added that he did not take the police anywhere to recover any of the items.

Chief Magistrate McLennan later granted the defendant his release on $150,000 bail and set the next hearing for January 17, 2017, when the case will be called at the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court.