Cameroon confirms liquidator of defunct Credit Agricole to remain in prison

The liquidator of the defunct Crédit Agricole bank that collapsed in the mid 1990s, Ekande Fréderic, will remain in prison until the end of his 10-year sentence handed down by the Mfoundi High Court in Yaounde on June 28, 2012. He was found guilty of embezzling 799 million FCFA, being money recovered from creditors of the State-owned farmers’ bank. The Supreme Court in Yaounde on Tuesday, January 19, 2016, dismissed the application to squash the sentence, saying the reasons advanced were unfounded. Earlier, Advocate General Mr. Justice Ngatcha had argued that given the gravity of the matter, if Ekande was granted bail, he might never return to the country since he has bank accounts in France.

In his appeal, Ekande, who, according to his counsel, Barrister Mong Antoine Marcel, was absent in court because he is seriously down with diabetes and a heart condition, wanted to be acquitted in order to travel abroad for treatment. He believes that given the manner in which Crédit Agricole was created, the funds he embezzled could not be termed ‘public,’ thus he should be set free. Ekande Fréderic was jailed for embezzling 799 million FCFA during his tenure as Crédit Agricole liquidator from 1997 to 2001. He swindled the money through several bank transfers to his accounts in Société Générale bank in Paris, France.