a warning to corrupt African political office holders, who illegally enrich
themselves at the expense of their poor people, that they would no longer go
scot free. They will be investigated, held accountable and punished.
The warning was given by US Department of Justice after a New
York court jailed Mahmoud Thiam, 50, a former minister of mines and geology of
Guinea, who was living big in America on the bribe he collected from a Chinese
company.
He was jailed seven years.
bribes paid to him by executives of China Sonangol International Ltd. (China
Sonangol) and China International Fund, SA (CIF).
“Today’s sentence sends
a strong message to corrupt individuals like Thiam that if they attempt to use
the U.S. financial system to hide their bribe money they will be investigated,
held accountable, and punished,” the Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth
Blanco of the Department of Justice Criminal Division said in a
statement.
“Mahmoud Thiam engaged in a corrupt scheme to benefit himself
at the expense of the people of Guinea,” said Blanco.
“Corruption is a
cancer on society that destabilises institutions, inhibits fair and free
competition, and imposes significant burdens on ordinary law-abiding people just
trying to live their everyday lives”, he added.
The warning was
reinforced by Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim of the Southern District of New
York, who said: “Today’s sentence shows that if you send your crime proceeds to
New York, whether from drug dealing, tax evasion or international bribery, you
may very well find yourself at the front end of long federal prison term.”
