Network of ”state scammers” dismantled

The authorities in Cameroon say they have exposed and dismantled a network of unscrupulous civil servants who defrauded the government out of more than CFA 1bn (£1.3m, $1.5m) in 2016. The scammers were said to number about 700, with some working for the Ministry of Finance. Reports said they operated the fraud by tampering with […]

The authorities in Cameroon say they have exposed and dismantled a network of unscrupulous civil servants who defrauded the government out of more than CFA 1bn (£1.3m, $1.5m) in 2016. The scammers were said to number about 700, with some working for the Ministry of Finance. Reports said they operated the fraud by tampering with payslips, pay grades and other payroll details in order to channel cash into their own accounts. An internal probe revealed that fraudsters in the Finance Ministry were in charge of masking traces of the scam in the government computer system.