BICEC CPDM Scandal: More questions than answers ²

Since August 8, some top BICEC bankers’ have been remanded in custody at the New Bell central prison in Douala. Cameroon Concord News has learned that there is more to this crisis than the bank would want the public to know. Recently, a prominent Cameroon financial expert hinted our Douala economic reporter that other culprits are at large. Our source who sued for anonymity revealed that the smart arrest of Innocent Ondoa Nkou, the former Deputy Managing Director of BICEC and Samuel Ngando Mbongue, the Director of Accounting suspected of embezzling nearly 50 billion CFA francs were state managed as a policy of damage control.

We can now reveal that many other people are involved in this case and participated in this grave financial crime and have not been mentioned by the bank hierarchy.  Given that some of the money was used to pay for events hosted by the ruling CPDM crime syndicate, some junior staffs of the bank are now afraid to say a word for fear of being fired or disappear in a strange way, especially that all suspects are influential people in the country.

On the menu of questions around this financial scandal that has rocked an international establishment such as BICEC; some wonder why the previous General Managers did not uncover these malpractices? A highly placed Cameroon government official who spoke to us at the time of filing this report hinted that based on the fact that the period of the alleged offense was from 2003 to 2012, the internal audits cannot wash their hands off the matter like the Biblical Pontus Pilate.  Our source further questioned what prompted the high profile arrest recently.

By Sama Ernest