A court in Cameroon has jailed for life the former head of the defunct national carrier Camair, Yves Michel Fotso, on conviction of embezzling almost US$56 million. Fotso, already sentenced to 25 years behind bars in a separate graft case, “took the rap for life”, said a source close to the Special Criminal Tribunal.
The judges “found Mr Fotso guilty of embezzling 32.4 billion CFA francs” (US$55.7 million) when he was chief executive of the airline – full name then was Cameroon Airlines – from 2000 to 2003.
Fotso created three front companies to rent aircraft to the airline when the planes had already been purchased outright with public funds, the source explained.