CRIET: heavy indictments in a case of embezzlement of funds at COWEC-Benin
Last Thursday, the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court for the Repression of Economic Crimes and Terrorism (CRIET) demanded prison sentences for three defendants, two of whom are agency managers from the Wesleyan Cooperative for Savings and Credit (COWEC-Benin).
According to Banouto, they are being prosecuted for breach of trust, complicity, and money laundering in a case involving fraudulent loan applications, resulting in losses amounting to tens of millions of CFA francs.
According to the prosecution, the two agency leaders, one based in Cotonou and the other in Porto-Novo, allegedly colluded with a technician in charge of doctoring the documents to create several fraudulent files using fake pay slips and bank statements in the names of public and parapublic institutions. The diverted funds are estimated at 40 million and 39 million FCFA.
The defense of the cooperative, represented by its lawyer, demands reimbursement of the outstanding sums: 36 million for the first agency manager, 29 million for the second. It also requested 10 million FCFA in compensation for damages suffered.
A Widow’s Special Case
Among the defendants is also a client without an arrest warrant, who presents herself as a victim. She claims she was deceived by the agency head in Cotonou who posed as a military officer. According to her testimony, a loan of 3.8 million FCFA taken out in her name was immediately confiscated by this man under the pretext of “managing” the money. The complainant also accuses him of extracting nearly 2 million more from her and selling her late husband’s vehicle without giving her the funds.
In its demand, the public prosecutor’s office requested sentence of seven years in prison, with five of those years being non-probationary, and a fine of 5 million FCFA for each of the three defendants. They also asked for their joint conviction to reimburse the outstanding amounts to COWEC-Benin, and to meet the demands of the widow who seeks the return of her vehicle or repayment of its estimated value of 2.1 million FCFA. The verdict is awaited on October 23, 2025.
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