Almost €1m mysteriously disappears from coffers of Mauritania’s central bank

A flaw in the internal management system of Mauritania’s central bank enabled the embezzlement of €935,000 which continued for more than a month, according to the country’s monetary authorities. The matter has been brought to the justice department and the suspects have been arrested. 

Mauritanian banknotes, the country’s currency is called the Ouguiya © Mauritania Central Bank / RFI

The central bank’s management filed a complaint about embezzlement, breach of trust and falsification of bank documents, according to Salem Mejbour, RFI’s correspondent in Nouakchott. 

Mauritania’s authorities are pursuing an investigation led by the service responsible for economic and financial crimes. 

Arrests have already taken place with several employees of the bank as well as those outside the bank having been implicated in the fraud. 

MP Boidiel Ould Houmeid is urging the creation of a parliamentary inquiry to determine exactly who is responsible for the lack in oversight, describing it as a “scandal”. 

Ould Houmeid, a former finance minister, said the embezzlement discredits Mauritania’s central bank, an institution that had previously been lauded for its exemplary practices. 

Mauritania’s central bank was created in 1973 when the country left the CFA franc zone.