(Investir au Cameroun) – In its report on the state of the fight against corruption in Cameroon in 2023, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Conac) reveals that during the year, the National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF) recorded suspicious financial flows totaling 1665.4 billion FCFA (+180% year-on-year, according to the report). Resulting from the analysis of 965 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) sent to ANIF by banks, microfinance institutions, mobile money operators, money transfer companies, lawyers, notaries, and other public administrations, these suspicious financial flows, we learn, were the subject of 447 reports transmitted to the country’s competent jurisdictions and authorities.
“Various fraud cases are the most significant in terms of the number of files transmitted (they have almost tripled between 2022 and 2023, Editor’s note). They represent more than half (50.6%) of the transmissions in 2023. The detected activities include tax fraud (60% of cases), customs fraud (40%), land transaction fraud (7%), and credit card fraud (5%). The most frequent methods involve the illicit transfer of funds abroad through the misuse of credit cards, the concealment of company revenues in third-party bank accounts, and the illegal practice of commercial activities by certain economic operators. In addition to the competent jurisdictions, information on tax and customs fraud has been brought to the attention of the DGI (General Directorate of Taxes) and the DGD (General Directorate of Customs),”the Conac report indicates.
The body in charge of the fight against corruption in Cameroon highlights that after “various frauds”, cases related to the financing of terrorism increased by 38% compared to 2023.“These cases rank second in terms of files transmitted and represent 31.54% of the disseminations in 2023 (141 cases). This situation could be justified by the security context, with the presence of Boko Haram in the northern part of the country and the activities of secessionist movements in the North-West and South-West regions. (…) The identified financing mechanisms involve internet scams, the use of false identities to receive funds from abroad, as well as transfers via mobile money and money transfer companies,” we learn.
Furthermore, although the number of files related to suspicions of embezzlement of public funds increased by 140% between 2022 and 2023, Conac reveals that these cases only represent 2.68% of the files transmitted by ANIF to the competent authorities and jurisdictions. However, these cases account for 4.3% (a little over 71 billion FCFA) of the total amount of suspicious financial flows recorded by ANIF during the year, compared to 94.7% (approximately 1577 billion FCFA) for “various frauds.”Activities related to the financing of terrorism account for only 0.14% of the suspicious financial flows recorded, or about 2.3 billion FCFA.
