Benin: a self-styled official at the Ministry of Finance defrauds several people, including his father-in-law

A man charged with alleged fraud appeared before the Court for the Repression of Economic Offenses and Terrorism (CRIET).

He is accused of abusing the trust of several people by presenting himself as an influential official at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

In court, several plaintiffs chose to become civil parties. Among them are a police officer, acquaintances of the defendant, and his own father-in-law. The victims claim to have been convinced by the man’s supposed connections with high authorities, which would have allowed him to obtain various sums of money. The total damage claimed by the civil parties amounts to around twenty million CFA francs.

According to testimony presented at the court, the accused presented himself as the Director of Financial and Material Resources at the Ministry of Finance and as a close collaborator of the minister. He maintained this image by displaying on his phone call recordings saved under the name “my minister.” These setups would have helped to reinforce his credibility with his interlocutors.

Some victims say they were lured by promises of business opportunities, notably supposed contracts at the Port of Cotonou or support to create a company and gain access to banking facilities. In one case mentioned at the hearing, a plaintiff says she paid him nearly six million CFA francs for various services that never materialized.

The police officer who filed the complaint says he advanced 225,000 CFA francs for the purchase of fuel for a vehicle, an amount that would never have been reimbursed. The defendant’s father-in-law also accuses his son-in-law of having extorted money from him in land transactions, notably during the supposed acquisition of parcels.

The proceedings also revealed that the supposed secretary of the defendant, in charge of certain financial operations, would actually be his partner. The Court has decided to hear the latter as well as the accused’s mother-in-law at a future hearing scheduled for April 27, 2026.

According to a source close to the case, the accused is already serving a five-year prison sentence in another matter related to land disputes.