CAMEROON CORRUPTION: ALBATROSS AFFAIR EMBROILS PM,

C O N F I D E N T I A L YAOUNDE 000546

SIPDIS

STATE ALSO FOR AF/C, INL/C
PRETORIA FOR DHS
ABUJA FOR LEGATT
TREASURY FOR FINCEN
TREASURY ALSO FOR JILL BEZEK
TREASURY FOR FRANCOIS BOYE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2018
TAGS: CM EAIR ECON EFIN KCOR PGOV EINV
SUBJECT: CAMEROON CORRUPTION: ALBATROSS AFFAIR EMBROILS PM,
OTHER MINISTERS

REF: A. YAOUNDE 237

B. 03 YAOUNDE 1425

C. 99 YAOUNDE 1599

Classified By: Poloff Tad Brown for Reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Cameroonian media and gossip circuits have been
abuzz in recent weeks with speculation that dozens of
high-level officials and prominent Cameroonians, including
Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni, will be arrested for their role
in what looks to become the biggest corruption scandal in
Cameroon's history. The "Albatross Affair" centers around a
series of embezzlement-laden shadowy deals that cost
Cameroon's national airline, CAMAIR, upwards of $37 million
to purchase an ageing Boeing 767 in 2004 to use as Paul
Biya's presidential plane and through aircraft leases. Inoni
insists he proved his innocence to Biya, but he is
increasingly perceived as doomed to be dismissed in an
imminent cabinet shuffle. This case may prove especially
interesting to American law enforcement agencies as documents
available to Post clearly show that American citizens and
American companies were involved in the corrupt deal. End
summary.

There is More Than One Scandal
==============================


2. (SBU) Although public discussion focuses "the Albatross
Affair," the Government of Cameroon (GRC) is investigating a
series of suspicious deals that were motivated by President
Biya's determination to upgrade former President Ahidjo's
1978 aircraft (nicknamed "the Pelican") to a newer
presidential aircraft. The "Albatross" was the nickname
given to an ageing Boeing 767 that Biya flew once in 2004
before mechanical failures on Biya's first trip caused him to
abandon it. GRC officials are investigating the origin of
the Albatross deal (which was portrayed by many as an attempt
to assassinate Biya in a plane crash) as well as the
disappearance of about $31 million paid to a U.S. company for
the purchase of a new Boeing business jet and a series of
dubious leasing deals entered into by CAMAIR executives.

GIA International
=================


3. (C) As early as 1999, then-Secretary General at the
Presidency (and current Minister of Territorial
Administration, MINAT) Hamidou Yaya Marafa met with Boeing
officials to discuss the purchase of a new 737 Boeing
Business Jet (BBJ) for President Biya and a 767 for CAMAIR.
In that meeting, attended by Embassy officials (ref c),the
Boeing official told Marafa that financing for the 737-BBJ
would be difficult to obtain and that international financial
institutions would not look kindly upon a specific GRC budget
line for a presidential aircraft. Since Cameroon was
supposed to be abiding by an IMF program for debt relief, the
Presidency determined it would be unseemly to spend tens of
millions of dollars outright for a presidential aircraft.
Instead, according to press reports, Embassy contacts and
documents obtained by Post in recent weeks, Biya approved the
transfer of about $29 million from the accounts of the
National Hydrocarbons Company (SNH) through the Ministry of
Finance to CAMAIR (in transactions disguised as the GRC
repaying debts to CAMAIR),which in August 2001 transferred
the funds to the Bank of America accounts of Oregon-based GIA
International. Documents provided by a GRC source in late
May indicate that GIA International had acted as an
intermediary with Boeing to obtain the 737-BBJ. An
additional $2 million was transferred to the Commercial Bank
of Cameroon (CBC),owned by the family of then-CAMAIR General
Manager Yves Michel Fotso, reportedly to repay a $2 million
advance that CBC had paid to GIA International.


4. (U) According to open source information, when Marafa
was transferred to MINAT in August 2002 and replaced at the

Presidency by Jean Marie Atangana Mebara, the latter
convinced Biya to abandon the plan for a new plane and
instead purchase a cheaper, second-hand aircraft (the
"Albatross"). Post possesses no information indicating how
much money was actually transferred from GIA to Boeing, but
Cameroonian press reports indicate that Boeing returned
whatever funds it had received to GIA, minus a penalty fee as
specified in the contract. GIA was subsequently declared
bankrupt after Indian Airlines sued them in New York court
for fraud. In his sworn statement in that case (quoted in
press reports, but not obtained by Post),GIA President
Russell Meek testifies in some detail about the handling of
the GRC's funds. Post has not yet been contacted by Boeing
regarding this issue and is not aware of any allegations that
Boeing engaged in any inappropriate behavior.

The Albatross Affair
====================


5. (C) Then-Secretary General Mebara continued ahead with
his own plans to purchase a second-hand aircraft for Biya.
Fotso was replaced at the CAMAIR helm by Thomas Dakayi Kamga,
who sought to lease two Boeing aircraft. According to copies
of GRC documents obtained by Post in recent weeks, SNH
General Manager Adolphe Moudiki, in May 2003, transferred $5
million from SNH accounts at a French bank (the Societe
Generale La Defense Enterprises) to Boeing's account with JP
Morgan Chase (ATTN: Maria Chavez). Having been inspected and
certified by Cameroonian officials, the aircraft was used to
ferry Paul Biya and his family from Douala to Geneva in 2004.
The plane reportedly experienced technical problems
mid-flight, leaving the first family shaken, Biya enraged,
and observers speculating that someone had wanted to murder
Biya. Although Post is unaware of any substantiation of this
conspiracy theory, Biya never flew in the Albatross again.

CAMAIR's Contracts
==================


6. (C) We believe GRC officials are also investigating
leases that CAMAIR undertook under the leadership of
then-CAMAIR General Manager Yves Michel Fotso, Chairman of
the Commercial Bank of Cameroon and son of Cameroonian
billionaire Victor Fotso, and Thomas Dakayi Kamga, his
replacement. According to GRC sources, including Minister of
Finance Essimi Menye (who is now overseeing the liquidation
of CAMAIR),CAMAIR's lease arrangements were highly
unfavorable to CAMAIR, and media reports have speculated that
Fotso surreptiously leased CAMAIR planes from companies that
he owned.

The French (and Swiss) Connection
=================================


7. (C) Swiss judicial authorities have reportedly been
involved in questioning Fotso and other Cameroonians after
filing a formal Letters Rogatory alleging that French
national Francois de Seroux-Fouquet (residing in Little Rock,
Arkansas) engaged in money laundering, criminal activity and
other crimes while doing business with CAMAIR. Press reports
indicate that Seroux-Fouquet conspired with Fotso to
structure CAMAIR's airplane leases--at exorbitant
prices--through companies the two controlled. From press and
GRC contacts, Post understands that CAMAIR has, at various
times, undertaken leases with companies including GIA
International, Societe General Avipro Finance Ltd., Aircraft
Portfolio Management, and Ansett Worldwide Air Services.

Who Is Implicated
=================


8. (C) The following individuals feature prominently in the
Albatross affair:

-- Ephraim Inoni, then-Assistant Secretary General at the

Presidency; currently Prime Minister. Inoni told the
Ambassador that he has provided convincing evidence to Biya
that he was not involved in the Albatross shenanigans. An
Inoni family member told Poloff May 29 that GRC-insiders know
Mebara hated Inoni (his deputy) and never would have included
him in such a sensitive dossier. Despite sensational
headlines suggesting that Inoni will be caught up in the
Albatross investigation, Inoni seems confident he will emerge
unscathed and Post is not aware of any credible information
indicating Inoni's involvement.

-- Adolphe Moudiki, General Manager of National Oil Company
(SNH). Moudiki would have ordered the transfer of payments
from SNH accounts. According to press reports and a GRC
contact, the transfers reportedly attracted the attention of
US financial authorities, who held up the transfers until
Moudiki assured them they were legitimate.

-- Michel Meva'a Eboutou, former Minister of Finance.
Eboutou had authority over the SNH transfer to CAMAIR and
other financial transfers.

-- Yves Michel Fotso, former Director of CAMAIR. Fotso was
engaged in negotiations for the 737-BBJ, the purchase of the
Albatross, and the negotiations of CAMAIR's leases.

-- Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o, then-Chief of Staff at the
Presidency, currently the General Delegate for National
Security (DGSN, or head of the National Police). Mebe Ngo'o
would have been involved in overseeing the plans for the new
aircraft and allegedly benefited from kickbacks obtained from
over-billing the Presidency for use of CAMAIR assets.

-- Jerome Mendouga, former Cameroonian Ambassador to the
United States. As the GRC's contact with the American
entities, Mendouga was the conduit for some payments within
the US, according to information provided by USG sources.

-- Marafa Hamidou Yaya, then-Secretary General at the
Presidency and concurrently Chairman of the SNH Board,
currently Minister of State for Territorial Administration.
Marafa was personally engaged in initial discussions with
Boeing starting in 1999 and would have overseen the transfer
of funds from SNH.

-- Russell Meek, AMCIT President of GIA International,
registered in Grants Pass, Oregon; mentioned in media reports
and in copies of GRC documents obtained by Post.

-- Fernando Gomez Mazuera, AMCIT (COB: Colombia) Vice
President of GIA International; mentioned in media reports
and in copies of GRC documents obtained by Post.

-- Kevin Walls, British citizen, Director of Aircraft
Portfolio Management (APM),company registered in British
Virgin Islands that is allegedly involved in some of CAMAIR's
suspect leasing arrangements; mentioned in media reports.

-- Jean-Marie Assene Nkou, President of National Airways of
Cameroon, former Member of Parliament. Assene Nkou was the
link between GIA and Fotso (through Ms. Gwett, now with
Fotso's Cameroonian company Air Leasing); Assene Nkou
allegedly received 500 million CFA.

Comment
=======


9. (C) The GRC's zealous pursuit of these files is no doubt
colored by politics. Many of those implicated are also
believed to be part of the "Upstarts" who we believe seek to
replace Biya on their own terms (ref a) and who the Biya
regime wishes to weaken. The recent renewed press coverage
of the Albatross story comes in the wake of a series of
apparently unrelated corruption-related arrests, including
the former Ministers of Finance and Health, the General
E

Manager of the Cameroon Shipyard, and others implicated in
"Operation Sparrowhawk." As Albratoss plays out, it could
lead to the arrest of a series of powerful Cameroonians,
including Marafa, Moudiki, Fotso and others, and may also
direct more attention to the American element of these
corrupt deals. End comment.

US Law Enforcement Interest
===========================


10. (C) Although we have not been officially contacted
about Albatross, media reports suggest GRC investigators will
begin researching the U.S. angle to this story in the coming
weeks. U.S. law enforcement officials considering the
American component of these scandals may be interested to
obtain some of the detailed banking information (including
account names and numbers, transfer amounts and dates) that
Post has obtained from press and other sources. Points of
contact are Deputy Pol-Econ Chief Clinton Brown
(BrownCS@state.gov) and Assistant Regional Security Officer
Miguel Eversley (EversleyMA@state.gov).
GARVEY