Former Comoros president Ahmed Abdallah Sambi has been detained and charged in connection with misappropriating funds linked to a vast passport selling scam, his lawyer said Tuesday.
A magistrate charged Sambi, in power between 2006 and 2011, with “corruption, misappropriation of public funds and complicity in forgery”, and ordered his house arrest following a hearing on Monday.
The scandal dates back to 2008 when Comoros launched a programme, in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, to give citizenship to stateless individuals from the Gulf known as bidoons.
In return, Comoros — an archipelago between Mozambique and Madagascar and one of the world’s poorest countries — was expected to receive significant investment from the oil-rich nations.
The initial deal agreed that 4,000 bidoon families would become naturalised Comorians in return for $200 million (163 million euros) to be used for major infrastructure projects.
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Source: Seychelles News Agency
