Yves Michel Fotso gets another life sentence

He was found him guilty on April 29, 2016, of embezzling over 10 Billion FCFA during his tenure as General Manager of Cameroon Airlines.

Yves Michel Fotso, the former General Manager of the defunct national carrier, Cameroon Airlines, Camair, will probably go down in the annals of the Special Criminal Court in Yaounde as the first accused to receive two life sentences in less than a week.

After being sentenced to life imprisonment on April 25, 2016, for embezzling 32.4 billion FCFA in Phase II of the two corruption trials before the court, he was again slammed another life sentence on April 29, 2016, in Phase I of the trial. This time around, Fotso was accused of embezzling over 10 billion FCFA between 2000 and 2002.

Yves Michel Fotso and all five of his counsel were absent in court, having decided last February not to attend any more hearings, alleging deliberate attempts by court officials to prevent them from having a fair hearing. Delivering the ruling, the leader of the trial team, Mr. Justice Francis Claude Moukouri, ordered the confiscation of about 12 of Michel Fosto’s frozen accounts in both local and foreign banks. He is also to pay 9 billion FCFA to the State as compensation for losses caused by the embezzlement, and 958 million FCFA as the cost of the trial.

The other trial judges were Mr. Justice Michel Onana and Mr. Justice Nyassa Luc; while the Advocates General were Mr. Justice Jean Claude Taghim and Mr. Justice Ngoupa. Michel Fotso was initially accused of fraudulently obtaining 18.9 billion FCFA between 2000 and 2002.

The suit, filed by Camair's Liquidation Committee and the State of Cameroon, concerns 4,051,209,866 FCFA, 4,606,130,515 FCFA, and 8,934,203,742 FCFA, all compensation for the famous Boeing 747 'Combi' aircraft crash in Paris, France on November 6, 2000. He was also charged with embezzling 1,400,000,000 FCFA, being the cost of the wreck of the crashed aircraft he sold.

However, the court struck out the charge of embezzlement of 8,934,203,742 FCFA because the prosecution failed to substantiate it. Earlier, Advocate General Taghim had demanded a life sentence for Fotso and the confiscation of all his seized property. Counsel for the Camair Liquidation Committee, Barrister Ngongo Ottou Martin, asked for 9.05 billion FCFA as losses caused by the embezzlement. Barrister Mujem Fombad, counsel for the State of Cameroun, supported their position.