Essimi Menye caught up in a 9 billion scandal

On Tuesday, January 13 at the cabinet of the Minister of State, Minister of Justice, Keeper of seals (Minjustice), was heard by investigators of the special criminal court (CHT).

According to reliable information, on the instruction of the President of the Republic and more singularly, by letter signed by the Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural development (Minader) was queried in the small meeting room next to the office of Laurent Esso. He was held for nearly 3 hours by the sleuths of the CHT, determined to lift the thick veil that surrounds many cases of misappropriation of public funds.

The first would be linked to the diversion of 9,025 billion CFA francs for the restructuring of Amity Bank of Cameroon (ABC), while he was Finance Ministers (Minfi). Indeed, indicated, at the time where Essimi Menye took command of the Ministry of Finance in September 2007, Amity Bank of Cameroon was put under provisional administration by the Central Africa Banking Commission (Cobac), due to some tensions of cash transactions.

Enjoying his power of Attorney of Cobac, former Minfi will sort by letter N ° 00000504/MINFI/SG/DGTCFM of February 10, 2009, the transfer to Atlantic Bank Cameroon, the funds made available to stream Amity.

According to information received, the machination of Essimi Menye was grabbing the liabilities and the assets of Amity Bank of Cameroon by Atlantic Bank of Cameroon, which itself at that time facts had shortages in cash.

Facts claimed that the transaction was held contrary to the rights of the shareholders which pushed them to apply to the courts of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Cemac), which made judgment No. 010/CEMAC/CJ/du 13/11/2009 to shareholders.

The Court will then restore Amity Bank shareholders their rights rewarding by Treasury the sum of 9,025 billion CFA francs previously granted by Essimi Menye to Atlantic Bank of Cameroon.

In addition, Essimi Menye suffers from another folder from the Cameroonian Society of Tobacco (TBS). Appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural development in December 2011, he gave injunctions to the liquidator of the TBS to sell the company to a close friend, for a nominal sum of 50 million CFA francs, a society in which the State invest large sums of money through financial pirouettes, in violation of Act 99/019 of 22nd December 1999.

Only after the death of the new owner, Essimi Menye became the new owner of this plantation. Pushing further investigations, it was discovered that he was able to "include in the budget for his Department, a line for an amount of 150,000,000 Fcfa for the culture of tobacco subsidy," reported a source close to the Minader. According to CHT, it is noted that he had taken a perverse pleasure to play with the public fortune.

If at this point it is not possible to say exactly what suite is reserved for this case, it is not excluded that the conclusions of the CTH converge on misuse of public funds by Essimi Menye. Our repeated attempts to join the Minader by phone to have his version of the facts, remained unsuccessful.