The French Justice Unravels A 40 Billion Xaf Illegal Arms Sale, Casting Doubt On Cameroon's Defense Ministry

A fresh scandal is rocking the Ministry of Defense in Cameroon, but the spotlight is on Paris. Since August 24, 2020, French justice has initiated an investigation into "aggravated money laundering, forgery, and use of forged documents" in a case involving an illicit arms sale totaling 65,539,467 euros, nearly 43 billion XAF, "obscured through its offshore companies." In essence, French authorities are probing an unlawful 40 billion XAF arms deal with the Cameroonian government.

The judicial inquiry, initiated on August 24, 2020, targets individuals IGAL COHEN, DAN COHEN, and MICHAEL SFEDJ. It all began with a 30,000,000 € operation, around 20 billion XAF, from the account of the company NATERRE DIDEROT held at the French bank BNP – PARIBAS. Nanterre Diderot, created in 2016, was 20% owned by the company IDC Invest, with Dan and Igal Cohen as the ultimate beneficiaries – the true owners.

However, during investigations, anti-money laundering analysts at BNP identified the transaction as fraudulent and reported suspicious activity to the French anti-money laundering authority, TRACFIN. TRACFIN launched further investigations and uncovered a more extensive financial scheme involving real estate companies, offshore entities, and funds originating from Cameroon. Money laundering was confirmed, leading the case to be transferred to the financial prosecutor's office in Paris, initiating a criminal investigation.

The examining magistrate revealed that Igal Cohen allegedly "established a network of financial operations and real estate acquisitions to repatriate and launder funds from illicit contracts executed in Cameroon, exceeding 60 million euros (about 40 billion XAF)."

French magistrates discovered that a portion of the 40 billion XAF from Cameroon was utilized by the company NATERRE DIDEROT for the acquisition, on November 17, 2016, at a cost of 15,000,700 euros (around 10 billion XAF), of a real estate complex comprising 101 lots. The subsequent resale or leasing of certain lots generated proceeds of nearly 30,000,000 euros, approximately 20 billion XAF. The investigating magistrate has requested the seizure of these funds.

Two other companies, EXCELLIM and IMMOBILIERE 3 MARTEL, are also implicated in this extensive 40 billion XAF money laundering operation. However, the French Ministry of Armed Forces claims to have been unaware of such an operation, as stipulated by the law. On the Cameroonian side, the Ministry of Defense, which should be involved in such a contract, including Minister Joseph Beti Assomo, Chief of Military Secretariat Ngolo Ngomba, Director of Military Reserve Biligua Martial, and Director of Inter-Armed Forces Material, also denies knowledge of such a deal. The question arises: Who transferred 40 billion XAF from the Cameroonian public treasury to French companies, asserting it was an arms sale that both the defense ministries in France and Cameroon claim not to be aware of?