Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08CONAKRY462
2008-08-25 17:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Conakry
Cable title:
FORMER PRESIDENTIAL OFFICIAL UNDER INVESTIGATION
how-toVZCZCXRO8153 PP RUEHPA DE RUEHRY #0462 2381707 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 251707Z AUG 08 FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2849 INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L CONAKRY 000462
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2018
TAGS: PGOV ASEC KDEM GV
SUBJECT: FORMER PRESIDENTIAL OFFICIAL UNDER INVESTIGATION
FOR CORRUPTION
REF: A. CONAKRY 0452
B. CONAKRY 0460
Classified By: A/DCM SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D
C O N F I D E N T I A L CONAKRY 000462
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2018
TAGS: PGOV ASEC KDEM GV
SUBJECT: FORMER PRESIDENTIAL OFFICIAL UNDER INVESTIGATION
FOR CORRUPTION
REF: A. CONAKRY 0452
B. CONAKRY 0460
Classified By: A/DCM SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D
1. (SBU) The former Chief of Protocol at the Presidency,
Idrissa Thiam, is reportedly under investigation for
embezzlement. Commonly viewed as the most powerful
individual next to the president prior to his controversial
dismissal earlier this month, Thiam joins colleague Sam
Soumah (former Secretary General of the Presidency) to face
allegations of corruption. (COMMENT. Soumah was arrested
last week and then released the same day upon order of the
president - reftel. END COMMENT).
2. (U) A local internet news site (Guineenews.com) reported
on August 21 that Thiam is under investigation for the
disappearance of $6 million related to a debt reconversion
agreement between the Kuwaiti company, Ashanti Goldfield, and
the Guinean Government. According to the article, Thiam
deposited the funds into a special account he created under
the president's umbrella, entitled "Ashanti Service," but for
which Thiam was the sole authorized signatory. The author
states that the lawyers in charge of the investigation
maintain that the only way Thiam would have been able to set
up such an account was if he had forged the president's
signature.
3. (SBU) The newly appointed Judicial Advisor at the
Presidency, Mr. Mounjour Cheriff, told RSO LES that the
Judicial Police are conducting an ongoing investigation into
Thiam's activities, but that no warrant for his arrest has
been issued. A contact at the Judicial Police told RSO LES
that Thiam is scheduled for a hearing before the court on
August 26 at 10:00.
4. (C) During a meeting with the Charge on August 22, the
new Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, Alpha
Ibrahima Keira, said that Thiam is in trouble for falsifying
presidential decrees (reftel B).
--------------
COMMENT
--------------
5. (C) Thiam is also accused of having set up multiple bank
accounts in Conakry, Dakar, Paris, New York, and Washington.
If the allegations against Soumah and Thiam are true, the
pair of them may have conceivably siphoned off millions of
dollars, if not tens of millions. However, the president's
quick intervention in Soumah's case suggests that he may
prevent the government from pursuing any corruption cases
against his old friends. The president's intervention in the
corruption case against controversial millionaire Mamadou
Syllah sparked widespread civil unrest in early 2007. END
COMMENT.
BROKENSHIRE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2018
TAGS: PGOV ASEC KDEM GV
SUBJECT: FORMER PRESIDENTIAL OFFICIAL UNDER INVESTIGATION
FOR CORRUPTION
REF: A. CONAKRY 0452
B. CONAKRY 0460
Classified By: A/DCM SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D
1. (SBU) The former Chief of Protocol at the Presidency,
Idrissa Thiam, is reportedly under investigation for
embezzlement. Commonly viewed as the most powerful
individual next to the president prior to his controversial
dismissal earlier this month, Thiam joins colleague Sam
Soumah (former Secretary General of the Presidency) to face
allegations of corruption. (COMMENT. Soumah was arrested
last week and then released the same day upon order of the
president - reftel. END COMMENT).
2. (U) A local internet news site (Guineenews.com) reported
on August 21 that Thiam is under investigation for the
disappearance of $6 million related to a debt reconversion
agreement between the Kuwaiti company, Ashanti Goldfield, and
the Guinean Government. According to the article, Thiam
deposited the funds into a special account he created under
the president's umbrella, entitled "Ashanti Service," but for
which Thiam was the sole authorized signatory. The author
states that the lawyers in charge of the investigation
maintain that the only way Thiam would have been able to set
up such an account was if he had forged the president's
signature.
3. (SBU) The newly appointed Judicial Advisor at the
Presidency, Mr. Mounjour Cheriff, told RSO LES that the
Judicial Police are conducting an ongoing investigation into
Thiam's activities, but that no warrant for his arrest has
been issued. A contact at the Judicial Police told RSO LES
that Thiam is scheduled for a hearing before the court on
August 26 at 10:00.
4. (C) During a meeting with the Charge on August 22, the
new Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, Alpha
Ibrahima Keira, said that Thiam is in trouble for falsifying
presidential decrees (reftel B).
--------------
COMMENT
--------------
5. (C) Thiam is also accused of having set up multiple bank
accounts in Conakry, Dakar, Paris, New York, and Washington.
If the allegations against Soumah and Thiam are true, the
pair of them may have conceivably siphoned off millions of
dollars, if not tens of millions. However, the president's
quick intervention in Soumah's case suggests that he may
prevent the government from pursuing any corruption cases
against his old friends. The president's intervention in the
corruption case against controversial millionaire Mamadou
Syllah sparked widespread civil unrest in early 2007. END
COMMENT.
BROKENSHIRE