A former Minister of Defense of Cameroon was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 years in prison for embezzlement of public funds by the Special Criminal Court (TCS) in Yaoundé, his lawyer told AFP on Thursday (February 2nd).
Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o was notably found guilty by the TCS of the embezzlement of 23 billion CFA francs (around 35 million euros) through "
overbilling
", said the lawyer, Pauline Amougou Koe, who added that his client intended to appeal in cassation.
His wife was sentenced to ten years in prison for "
complicity in embezzlement of public funds
" and several of the couple's assets were seized as part of the procedure, according to Pauline Amougou Koe.
river trial
In 2010, a Cameroonian journalist, Jules Koum Koum, who died in a road accident, had investigated a supposed scandal of overcharging for military uniforms delivered by the supply company MagForce to the Ministry of Defense, then headed by Mr. Mebe Ngo o.
Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o, 66, was for more than ten years one of the most important figures in the Cameroonian government and was even presented by some as a possible successor to President Paul Biya at the head of Cameroon for more than 40 years.
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He had been in pretrial detention for four years.
He was being prosecuted for "
embezzlement of public funds
" and "
corruption
".
The TCS investigation took place within the framework of a vast national operation to fight against corruption in Cameroon launched in 2006 by the authorities and called “
Operation Epervier
”.
Several former ministers and general managers of public companies were sentenced in connection with this operation.
Jurisdiction devoted to embezzlement
During his career, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o was director of the civil cabinet of the presidency of the Republic and boss of the police.
He was considered close to Mr. Biya.
He then entered the government as Minister of Defense (2009-2015) before inheriting the Transport portfolio (2015-2018).
The TCS is a special jurisdiction created to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of embezzlement of public funds in Cameroon for amounts exceeding 50 million CFA francs (76,000 euros).
Cameroon is ranked 142nd out of 180 in Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index.
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