Affaire du terrain de Ngaparou : Abdou Aziz Ndiaye et Awa Baldé s’affrontent devant le tribunal
The Dakar criminal court heard the case between real estate developer Aziz Ndiaye and socialite Awa Baldé concerning the controversial sale of a plot of land measuring over 7,000 square meters in Ngaparou. In a debate, both parties presented their versions of the land's true price and the commitments that had been made.
A sale at 50 million or 125 million FCFA?
According to Awa Baldé, the agreement concluded with Aziz Ndiaye was for an amount exceeding 125 million FCFA, to which was to be added the delivery of a turnkey villa. However, she claims that she agreed to the signed document stating a price of only 50 million FCFA, at the businessman's request, who reportedly explained that he wanted to reduce the costs associated with the transaction.
The plaintiff maintains that she ultimately received only about 37 million FCFA and no villa. Believing she was wronged, she filed a complaint against Aziz Ndiaye and Élimane Lam, whom she considered to be the purchasers of the land.
But after an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC), the case was dismissed by the Financial Judicial Pool. Refusing to let the matter rest, Awa Baldé filed a direct summons against Aziz Ndiaye in the criminal court.
Aziz Ndiaye denies any fraudulent maneuvers
In court, importer Aziz Ndiaye, administrator of Aziz Business Company (ABC), contested the fraud charges. He offered a different version of events, supported by contractual documents and signed releases. "She was the one who approached me to offer to sell me this land. Initially, I wasn't interested. She finally agreed to sell it to me for 50 million FCFA," he stated.
According to Aziz Ndiaye, the land actually belonged to the plaintiff's ex-husband, who only had power of attorney to sell it. He claims to have fully paid the agreed-upon 50 million FCFA and even covered the transfer fees. Aziz Ndiaye also maintains that the land, acquired a few years earlier for approximately 11 million FCFA, was then just a field with a chicken coop. He asserts that there was never any mention of a 125 million FCFA transaction or the delivery of a villa. "I first heard about the 120 million when she filed a complaint against me with the Financial Judicial Pool," he stated.
"I trusted him like a brother."
Speaking again, Awa Baldé explained that she had acted in complete trust towards Aziz Ndiaye, whom she considered a close friend. "I knew him and his family. I considered him like an older brother," she declared in court. She stated that the sale was intended to help her cover urgent family expenses, particularly the medical care of her ailing mother. According to her account, Aziz Ndiaye had promised her a villa in a future real estate development and a total payment of 120 million FCFA. After signing the documents, she said she encountered numerous difficulties in obtaining the promised funds. The plaintiff also mentioned text message exchanges, which she said she still had on her phone, and accused the defendant of trying to persuade her to recant her statements.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs are pleading fraud.
Awa Baldé's lawyers argued that fraudulent maneuvers had occurred. For Mr. Bachir Lo, the case essentially rests on the relationship of trust that existed between the two parties. "She trusted him blindly. Today, one can criticize her naiveté, but that doesn't negate the commitments that had been made," the lawyer maintained.
For her part, Ms. Ramatoulaye Ba argued that her client had been misled by a real estate professional. She requested an expert appraisal to determine the land's true value in 2018 in order to establish whether the seller had been wronged. Mr. Ousseynou Ngom made the same request, emphasizing the need to know the property's market value at the time of the transaction. He also requested the defendant's conviction and an award of 200 million FCFA in damages to the plaintiff.
The defense claims it is simply a contractual dispute.
Faced with these accusations, Aziz Ndiaye's lawyers argued that this was a purely civil dispute, not a criminal case. Attorney Souleymane Soumaré produced several documents, including receipts signed by Awa Baldé, which he claimed attested to the full payment of the agreed price. "There is a document signed by both parties that clearly sets the price at 50 million FCFA. Our client paid the entire amount," the lawyer argued. The defense also raised the statute of limitations, noting that the transaction dates back to 2018 and that the complaint was only filed in 2025.
According to Mr. Moussa Konaté, the plaintiff simply regretted having sold her land at a price that had become derisory in light of the subsequent investments made on the site. "She saw the increase in the land's value and wanted to reverse a sale that had been legally concluded," he argued, while requesting that the request for an expert appraisal be dismissed.
Taking the floor in turn, Mr. Arona Basse urged the court to refocus the case on its true legal basis. "We are obliged to give this legal situation the appropriate classification," he stated. According to the lawyer, the parties are bound by a sales contract that they freely negotiated and duly signed. Therefore, the dispute raised by the plaintiff, in his view, falls under the execution or interpretation of contractual obligations and not constitutes a criminal offense. For Mr. Basse, nothing in the case file establishes the existence of fraudulent maneuvers prior to or concurrent with the sale, a condition that is nevertheless necessary to characterize the offense of fraud.
The defendant's lawyers asked the court to find no offense had been committed and to dismiss the charges against Aziz Ndiaye. The defense lawyers, moreover, requested that the plaintiff be convicted for having filed a false civil suit and demanded 10 million FCFA in damages.
The case has been adjourned for deliberation until September 23rd.
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