Ex-Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory Fofana is being investigated by Guinea’s prosecutor general for allegedly embezzling more than $40 million in help meant to fight the coronavirus outbreak, he claimed Friday.
From May 2018 to September 2021, when the army overthrew the democratic government in a coup, Fofana was prime minister under former president Alpha Conde.
Detained since April on suspicion of fraud, the former premier has yet to be charged with any specific offense.
To deal with the Covid-19 outbreak, the junta appointed prosecutor general Alphonse Charles Wright, who said Fofana was suspected of “embezzling several billion Guinean francs… particularly the sum of $46.2 million.”
Around $9 million of that total had been “completely withdrawn on the orders of Mr Ibrahima Kassory Fofana,” he continued.
Our usage of this money is unjustified.
“Suspicious movements” in his bank accounts were also discovered, he said.
Five officials were arrested on April 6 for embezzlement: Fofana, former defense minister Mohamed Diane, former environmental minister Oye Guilavogui, and former oil and gas minister Zakaria Coulibaly
Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, a former special forces commander, overthrew President Conde last year after accusing him of corruption and dictatorship..
There is no witch hunt planned, the ruling junta has vowed, despite the fact that there is widespread corruption in the impoverished West African state.