Nearly ten months after the arrival of the new authorities in Senegal, the pursuit of ill-gotten wealth appears to be ongoing. Created by the previous regime and installed in September 2024 by the new government, the Financial Judicial Pool—one of the judicial bodies dedicated to recovering loot—announced on Sunday, through Financial Prosecutor El Hadji Alioune Abdoulaye Sylla, that it is considering opening a judicial inquiry as part of a large investigation into suspected money laundering activities, currently estimated at over 125 billion CFA.
“In accordance with Article 66 of Law No. 2024-08 on money laundering, the financing of terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Financial Prosecutor plans to open a judicial investigation under the charges of conspiracy, money laundering, embezzlement of public funds, corruption, influence peddling, and abuse of corporate assets,” stated the magistrate in a communiqué seen by APA.
The prosecutor indicated that several reports from the National Financial Information Processing Unit (CENTIF) had recently been reviewed and are currently under analysis. One of these reports involves “several individuals,” though their names were not disclosed.
“The investigations reveal sophisticated money laundering schemes, involving shell companies that were allegedly used for suspicious transactions, provisionally valued at over 125 billion CFA,” added El Hadji Alioune Abdoulaye Sylla.
The Financial Judicial Pool, which replaced the Court of Repression of Illicit Enrichment (CREI)—which notably convicted officials from Abdoulaye Wade’s regime (2000-2012), including his son Karim Wade—was created by a law passed on August 2, 2023. It has national jurisdiction and is linked to the Dakar High Court and the Dakar Court of Appeal, with a mandate to focus on prosecuting economic and financial crimes.
ODL/sf/ac/lb/as/APA