{{Former Cameroon Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni has been indicted on two counts of embezzling millions from the state while he held public office with the support of other state officials.}}<\/p>\n
Inoni, who has been on pre-trial detention since his arrest on April 16 last year, was informed of the charges against him when he was summoned by the newly created Special Criminal Court on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He is accused of having embezzled $582,557 in 2003 while he served as prime minister and sat on the boards of some state-run companies and parastatals.<\/p>\n
The sum represented dues that had to be paid into the coffers of the Cameroon subsidiary of London-based firm Airport Portfolio Management (APM).<\/p>\n
APM which is represented in Cameroon by Asset Portfolio Management (APM) supervised the auditing of the leasing of airplanes by defunct national carrier Cameroon Airlines (CAMAIR).<\/p>\n
The court says Inoni, who during the same period chaired the board of APM\u2019s local subsidiary, failed to respect the country\u2019s laws on the award of the auditing contracts.<\/p>\n
The former prime minister\u2019s younger brother is said to have been holding a ten per cent stake in the Cameroon branch of APM.<\/p>\n
This, according to prosecutors, indicates that APM was a shadow company used to loot the state\u2019s reserves.<\/p>\n
Inoni is also accused of swindling $2,841,521 from the state in a separate charge.<\/p>\n
The amount represents a surplus on $8,128,540 disbursed by state-run oil company SNH (National Hydrocarbons Corporation) to CAMAIR as payment of arrears for airplanes leased from Ansett Worldwide, an American company.<\/p>\n
The transaction is said to have been made via Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon where the former premier was board chairman.<\/p>\n
Also accused are Jean Marie Atangana Mebara and Ot\u00e9l\u00e9 Essomba.<\/p>\n
Mr Mebara was secretary-general at the presidency and board chairman of SNH at the time while Mr Essomba was the deputy general manager of APM in Cameroon where he had a 30 per cent share.<\/p>\n
The court however dropped three other charges against the former prime minister. One of them had linked him to the botched purchase of a presidential plane christened the \u201cAlbatross Affair\u201d.<\/p>\n
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