The United States of America has sent a strong warning to
corrupt African political office holders. US said those who enrich themselves at the expense of their
poor people would no longer go scot-free.
The warning was given by US Department of Justice after a
New York court after it jailed Mahmoud Thiam.
Thiam, a former Minister of Mines and Geology of Guinea, was
jailed seven years for laundering bribes paid to him by executives of China
Sonangol International Ltd. (China Sonangol) and China International Fund, SA
(CIF).
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco of the
Department of Justice Criminal Division said in a statement that the sentence
sends a strong message to corrupt individuals like Thiam.
“Mahmoud Thiam engaged in a corrupt scheme to benefit
himself at the expense of the people of Guinea,” said Blanco.
“Corruption is a cancer on society that destabilises
institutions, inhibits fair and free competition, and imposes significant
burdens on ordinary law-abiding people just trying to live their everyday
lives.
“Today’s sentence shows that if you send your crime proceeds
to New York, whether from drug dealing, tax evasion or international bribery,
you may very well find yourself at the front end of long federal prison term.”
Thiam’s sentencing by U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote of
the Southern District of New York was announced by Blanco Kim, Assistant
Director Stephen E. Richardson of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division and
Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field
Office.
Thiam was convicted on May 3, after a seven-day trial of one
count of transacting in criminally derived property and one count of money
laundering.
“As a unanimous jury found at trial, Thiam abused his
position as Guinea’s Minister of Mines to take millions in bribes from a
Chinese conglomerate, and then launder that money through the American
financial system,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kim.
“Enriching himself at the expense of one Africa’s poorest
countries, Thiam used some of the Chinese bribe money to pay his children’s
Manhattan private school tuition and to buy a $3.75 million estate in Dutchess
County”, Kim added.
“Thiam abused his official position, but the outcome shows
that no one is above the law,” said Assistant Director Stephen E. Richardson.
“The FBI will not stand by while individuals attempt to live
by their own rules and use the United States as a safe haven for their
ill-gotten gains. I would like to applaud the dedicated investigators and
prosecutors who have worked to hold those who have committed these crimes
accountable for their illegal actions.”
By Ameh Comrade Godwin
