An Ethiopian clergyman Belay Mekonnen has been given a five-year jail term and slapped a 10,000 Ethiopian Birr fine for his involvement in an attempt to swindle the African Union (AU).
The Federal High Court Lideta Branch in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia on Thursday passed the verdict against the clergyman and sentenced the second and third defendants, Eyasu Endale and Bereket Mulatu, to three years and three months in prison, with a 3,000 Birr fine each.
The court said the senior clergyman and four others were found guilty of attempting to withdraw over $6 million from an AU account at the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.
The Africa Union previously stated that “a series of payment transfer orders were submitted” at its headquarters in Addis Ababa by “an individual who is not an employee of the African Union.”
The funds were purportedly designated for “construction and water drilling projects.”
During Thursday’s hearing, the court ruled that the defendants had engaged in a “coordinated and organised criminal act.”
Mekonnen, who was serving as deputy general manager at the EOTC Patriarchate at the time of his arrest, was accused of leading the fraudulent scheme alongside the second defendant, Eyasu Endale, an agricultural investor; the third defendant, Bereket Mulatu, a commission agent; Alemgena Samuel, a commission agent; and Abera Merga, manager of Nimona Trading Business Enterprise.
MG/as/APA