On Tuesday, December 24, 2024, a verdict was issued in the trial concerning the embezzlement of funds intended to support internally displaced persons in Burkina Faso.
The case involved the theft of several billion CFA francs from the accounts of the ministry overseeing this aid. Amidou Tiegnan, the primary accused, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 5.64 billion CFA francs. A civil servant in the ministry, Tiegnan was found guilty along with three colleagues of embezzling public funds, illicit enrichment, forgery, and the use of forged public documents.
The four officials received prison sentences ranging from 6 to 15 years, in addition to substantial fines. They had forged signatures and issued several hundred fraudulent checks from the Public Treasury, amounting to 2.8 billion CFA francs (approximately 4.2 million euros). The Court’s decision satisfied magistrate Karfa Gnanou, representing the State, who stated: “We demonstrated the offenses, which were upheld. We established the financial losses and moral damage, and while we claimed a total of 5 billion CFA francs, the court acknowledged 2.13 billion as the State’s financial loss”.
Beyond prison sentences and fines, the Court ordered the confiscation of all movable and immovable property owned by the four convicted individuals for the benefit of the State. On the defense side, opinions were divided about pursuing an appeal. Geneviève Ouédraogo, the lawyer for Amidou Tiegnan, who received the heaviest sentence, stated: “We will discuss with our client to determine whether to appeal the decision. The choice ultimately rests with him”.
The convicted individuals now have 15 days to decide whether to appeal the court’s ruling.