Cameroon Embassy in US still under FBI investigation

The Cameroon Embassy in Washington DC is still very much under investigation by the FBI, a Justice Department official told the Cameroon Journal.

The investigations which we first reported in March this year, began as a fall-out from the Florence Bikundi and ‘CO’ healthcare racket that was busted by the FBI last February. The Embassy had viciously fought every report that linked them to the Bikundi racket, and the ambassador went as far as issuing a public statement read over CRTV suggesting that they have never been under investigation by the FBI and had nothing to do with Florence Bikundi.

“The Embassy of Cameroon in the United States affirms it has never been involved in any manner with the supposed activities of money laundering in complicity with Cameroonian personalities unfairly mentioned in this article… Cameroon Ambassador to the United States, H.E Mr. Joseph Bienvenu Charles Foe Atangana, nor any staff member of this Diplomatic Mission has ever been subject to interrogation by any agent (s) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or any other police agency of the United States.” The Embassy release stated in part.

The statement had also claimed that the Cameroon Journal’s report was a work of some hostile and secessionist Cameroonians living in the USA.

“All statements and information contained in this article and developed by Americans of Cameroonian origin hostile to the Cameroon Government and its institutions must be considered desperate maneuvers and attempted poisoning of public opinion geared towards tainting the image of our country.”

However, with the firing of Francois Ngoubene last month from his position as Treasurer of the Cameroon Embassy in DC, it became even clearer that the Embassy had all along been covering up.

In a follow-up to our initial reporting on the story, we spoke recently with William Miller, Communication Officer with the Justice Department in DC about progress on the investigations. We asked him;

“Bill, I’m also aware speaking with the FBI that your department carried out money laundering investigations on Francis Ngoubene, Kinge Monono and the Cameroon Ambassador in DC relating to Florence Bikundi and others. Francis Ngoubene, by Presidential decree in Cameroon was last week fired from his position as Treasurer of the Cameroon Embassy in DC for that reason. Can we have a report of your findings please?”

Miller, while releasing to us the rulings for all the other cases in the healthcare racket, said that he couldn’t comment on the case of the embassy, the Ambassador , Ngoubene and Kinge Monono because “our investigations are still ongoing.”

As per the cases involving all the accused in the healthcare racket, he said, of all the cases in the DC district court, only two are still pending – that of Florence Bikundi, Arrey Kingsly Etchi-Banyi and CO; – Oyebola Hammed Babarinde and Oyebisi Zaart Babarinde. He said Bikundi, Arrey &CO, unlike others refused to plead guilty.

In the cases U.S. v. Etchi-Banyi et al, two – Oluwatoyin Bakare and Cecilia Acquah pled guilty while three others, Arrey Kingsly Etchi-Banyi, Oyebola Hammed Babarinde and Oyebisi Zaart Babarinde refused to plead guilty.

In U.S. v. Fon et al, U.S. v. Nkongsah et al, and U.S. v. Flythe, Felix Fon, Mirabel Mukum, Elizabeth Arung, Ernest Nkongsah, Emiline Besong and Adoshia Flythe, all pled guilty.

For similar cases heard at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, eight of the accused pled guilty – Dennis Allen, Niba Ayinwingong, Victor Tarkeh, Eliane Poungoum, Ulric Boyle, Michael Nyantakyi, Cedonne Alemnji and Paul Tengwei.

Still pending in the higher court are five cases involving Eric Mukala, Michael Fomundam, Rose Epse-Acha, Etienne Boussougou, and Brandon Fobeteh.

Embassy involvement in these cases – especially those of Florence Bikundi, alias, Flo Diamond and Arrey Kingsly had to do with allegations that the Embassy, through Francois Ngoubene, Kingsly Monono, opened frivolous accounts in New York and in the DC area and used them to launder money between the USA and Cameroon.

The money laundering involved top members of the Biya’s government on the one hand, Florence Bikundi and others who needed help to transfer huge sums of money to Cameroon.