Charles Kembo on the stand during his trial in Richmond, BC.Sheila Allan
The former girlfriend of a man accused of killing four people and stealing their identities says she agreed to pose as his missing wife because he told her it would make it easier to operate his business.
It was part of a web of lies prosecutors allege Charles Kembo spun to help cover up the murders of his wife, stepdaughter, another former girlfriend and a business partner.
The Crown claims Kembo murdered them so he could use their identities to continue living the life of a rich businessman.
Genevieve Camara, Kembo's girlfriend for six years when he was arrested in 2005, testified at his trial on Wednesday. She recalled how she met the man and was eventually drawn into the fraud herself, obtaining a government ID card under the name of Kembo's wife.
Camara had actually met Margaret Kembo before she assumed the woman's identify at a chance encounter while the two were visiting a mutual friend in the hospital.
Charles introduced his wife as a friend.
"We kind of bumped into each other by the elevator," Camara testified.
She said Kembo claimed Margaret was using his last name because they were partners in business and it made things easier.
"She had to pretend she was his wife," said Camara.
Kembo is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, whose body has never been found, his girlfriend Sui Yin Ma, 21-year-old stepdaughter Rita Yeung and business partner Ardon Samuel, all between December 2002 and mid-2005.
Camara, who emigrated from the African republic of Guinea with her family in 1993, told the jury she first met Kembo at a bookstore in downtown Vancouver in early 1999.
Kembo gave her his business card, identifying himself as Charles Gwazah, the name he used when he arrived in Canada from Malawi in 1989.
She called him a few weeks later, and not long afterward, he moved into her apartment, explaining that tax problems related to his business had landed him in financial trouble.
Camara, who had a daughter with Kembo in 2002, told Crown prosecutor Hank Reiner she was unaware he was involved with anyone else.
They later moved to a Vancouver apartment building where Margaret Kembo also had a suite on a different floor, she said. They met a few times but she said she never figured out the relationship between Charles and Margaret.
When Margaret Kembo disappeared in late 2002, Camara said Kembo told her she'd entered a Buddhist monastery in Hong Kong.
Camara said Kembo persuaded her to have Margaret's son Grant and daughter Rita come live with them, not realizing Grant was actually Kembo's son and Rita his stepdaughter.
"He told me she's decided to go to Hong Kong," Camara said. "She's going to go to the monastery to be a Buddhist."
She said Kembo told her Grant's father was a married man who wanted nothing to do with the young boy, and it was part of African culture that they should look after a friend's children.
Camara said Kembo told her that he talked with Margaret on a monthly basis at the monastery via a satellite video link from a Vancouver hotel.
The supposed sessions stopped after Kembo claimed Margaret had misspent money he'd given her on psychics and the monastery.
Kembo offered Camara his wife's 1988 Honda, saying she no longer needed it. Camara said Kembo told her he had Margaret's power of attorney to dispose of her things and look after the children. The car was transferred to a friend.
Camara said Kembo managed the couple's finances.
She identified Kembo's handwriting on several documents, including rental and credit card applications and cheques from businesses.
Some used the names of Arden Samuel, his friend and business partner, and others Margaret Kembo.
The addresses given on many documents were postal boxes.
Camara also identified a British Honduras driver's licence in Samuel's name with Kembo's picture.
Camara testified she was drawn into the fraud, agreeing to obtain an Alberta identification card under Margaret Kembo but using her own photo.
Camara's name was also used on money transfers from a bank in Copenhagen, the court heard, but Camara said she knew nothing about them.
Even after his arrest in July 2005 - Camara was also detained at the time - Kembo insisted to her that Margaret was not dead.
"He said 'When I go to court she's going to show up,'" she said.
Court heard an intercepted phone conversation between Camara and Kembo the night before his arrest. Investigators had just visited Camara.
"My conscience is clear," Camara told Kembo. "I didn't do nothing. I have nothing to hide. I don't know nothing."
Kembo is reassuring.
"I really don't think there's anything to this," he tells her. "It's just a hassle they want to put us through."