Benin: a former student prosecuted in a case of more than 24 million FCFA of allegedly embezzled tuition fees

A case involving several students and concerning tens of millions of CFA francs captured the attention of the Court of Abomey-Calavi this Thursday, June 11, 2026. According to Bip radio, at the heart of the case is a former student of the private higher education institution Le Faucon, facing charges of alleged embezzlement of tuition fees and forgery of administrative documents.

According to the institution’s representatives, the irregularities reportedly involved payments made between 2017 and 2019. However, it was not until 2020 that an internal audit revealed anomalies in several student files.

On the stand, the director of financial affairs explained that significant discrepancies were observed between the amounts recorded on some receipts submitted to the administration and the actual sums deposited into the institution’s bank account. After checks, the losses were evaluated at 24,027,000 CFA francs.

According to the explanations provided to the court, the system involved collecting all tuition fees from students. However, only small amounts, sometimes limited to 5,000 CFA francs, were allegedly deposited into the institution’s account. The receipts were then reportedly altered to create the illusion of full payments.

In response to these accusations, the defendant provided a different version of the events. According to the same source, he claims that he himself was introduced to a former student who offered to make tuition payments on behalf of the learners. After benefiting from this service without apparent difficulties, he says he shared the information with several classmates.

According to his statements, about twenty students then entrusted their tuition fees to this intermediary. In return, he sometimes granted small discounts. The defendant insists he only received around 300,000 CFA francs corresponding to discounts granted in the names of certain students and denies any intent to commit fraud.

To justify his trust in this former student, he indicated that this person continued to regularly attend the institution and maintained relationships with some administrative officials. Moreover, none of the students involved were alerted at the time about any potential payment defaults, which he believed reinforced the appearance of regularity in the transactions.

When questioned about the institution’s control mechanisms, the director of financial affairs specified that the annual audits were entrusted to an external firm. He also denied any connection between the former student’s visits to his office and the transactions currently in dispute, asserting that it was solely a matter of support for his professional integration.

To further clarify the circumstances of this case, the court has decided to postpone the file to July 24, 2026. On that date, the firm responsible for the audits, along with representatives from the concerned bank, is expected to provide their testimonies and explanations.