Former Gambian president embezzled $1bn
Information indicates that ,former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh “orchestrated the embezzlement of nearly $1bn (£762m) of public funds”, a report by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) claims.
Mr
Jammeh, currently in exile in Equatorial Guinea, has not responded to the
allegations, the OCCRP says.
The team of investigative reporters say they
reviewed thousands of documents from the course of Mr Jammeh’s 22-year rule,
which ended in 2017 after little-known presidential challenger Adama Barrow
defeated him at the polls.
Gambia’s Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou had
already accused Mr Jammeh of unlawfully withdrawing $50m from state funds over
a 10-year period.
But the OCCRP say the total figure is much
higher.