Communiqué from the Prosecutor of the Republic of Abidjan.
On January 22, 2020, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Abidjan was seized by the Secretary General of the Senate of a complaint against unknown for acts of forgery and use of forgery committed in administrative documents, usurpation of title or function and fraud relating to numerary.
The complainant explained that according to the regulations in force, senators benefit from an exemption from customs duties and taxes on the purchase of a new vehicle for importation during the current legislature. Continuing, he indicated that on November 28, 2019, the General Secretariat of the Senate was informed by a letter from the General Directorate of Customs indicating that the certificates received contained several irregularities, resulting in particular from the fact that:
– some vehicles did not correspond to the technical characteristics of those appearing on the exemption certificates signed by him for the benefit of the Senators concerned:
– false national identity documents and professional cards in the name of Senators had been produced at the Customs in order to benefit from the rights of exemption:
– people appearing on the list of Senators as having benefited from an exemption, produced by Customs, did not have the status of Senator:
– the signature of the Secretary General of the Senate had been falsified on certain exemption certificates:
In view of the extreme gravity of these facts, I instructed the Research Section of the National Gendarmerie to conduct an investigation.
The investigations carried out have shown that the named TOURE ALADJI MOUSSA MOUSTAPHA commonly called “TOURE ALMOUSTAPHA” had set up a network of counterfeiters, who produced and
sells false certificates of exemption from Senators to individuals, who use them to circumvent the customs procedure for importing vehicles.
In addition, the investigation demonstrated the involvement of certain senators who, in violation of the non-transferability of the right to exemption, ceded documents to third parties in return for remuneration, thus causing significant financial damage to the company. customs administration.
Referred to my Public Prosecutor’s Office, I requested against the sieur TOURE ALADJI MOUSSA MOUSTAPHA alias “TOURE AL MUSTAPHA” and others, the opening of a judicial investigation at the Pôle Pénal Économique et Financier (PPEF) with a committal warrant for the acts of forgery and use of forgery committed in administrative documents, swindle relating to cash, corruption and money laundering.
Facts provided for and punished by articles 7.8.99,121, 122, 123, 99, 113, 117 and 118 of Law Nº2016-992 of 14 November 2016 relating to the fight against money laundering and the financing of Terrorism: articles 107 , 108, 311,335, 471 and 484 of the Penal Code.
The beneficiaries of fraudulent certificates as well as all the people involved in this fraud are the subject of research with a view to subjecting them to all the rigors of criminal law.
The Public Prosecutor wishes to indicate, with regard to the senators involved in these facts, that a request for authorization of prosecution will be sent to the Senate, in accordance with article 145 paragraph 1 of the Rules of the Senate dated June 26, 2018.
Done in Abidjan, August 26, 2021
The Public Prosecutor ADOU Richard Christophe