Yaounde: Police parades man impersonating Ministers Mbayu, Motaze.

Abeng was paraded at the headquarters of the General Delegation for National Security, GDNS, in Yaounde Monday. Officers told reporters that the suspect went by the name Felix Mbayu and Louis Paul Motaze.

According to the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit at the GDNS, Superintendent of Police Vincent de Paul Meva, the suspect had been in the radar of security officers for long. Meva said the suspect was arrested on August 7, 2024.

He disclosed that the suspect was arrested following a complaint filed by the Minister of External Relations, Mbella Mbella, following reports of impersonation and scamming attributed to the accused.

The suspect is said to have attempted to scam the Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Cameroon while impersonating Minister Felix Mbayu.

Questionable, fishy behaviour

Meva narrated that on July 24, the suspect called the Congolese Ambassador and invited him to his office, claiming that he had a mail to hand over to the diplomat. 

In an attempt to trace his location, the suspect, the officer stated, attempted to scam the diplomat of 40,000 FCFA. 

“On that day, the Ambassador was accompanied by his First Adviser. Being busy, the Ambassador instructed his adviser to go get the mail,” Meva said. 

The Police Superintendent further disclosed that “to the surprise of the adviser, the presumed minister called him and told him that he was not in the office. He asked the adviser to help him buy a credit card at a call box on his way in, promising to refund the money when he arrived l”.

Meva further detailed that the unsuspecting Ambassador’s adviser indeed attempted acquiring the credit card as was requested. He narrated that after finding out that the call box salesperson had no credit card, unlike what the presumed minister had told him, the adviser in return called the suspect to update him on what was happening.

The suspect, Superintendent Meva said, extended his machinations by asking the Ambassador’s adviser to do a mobile money deposit, which was to be refunded once he got to his office.

“That was when the diplomat realised that he had fallen in the hands of a scammer. That is how he informed the Ambassador, who in return informed the member of government, leading to where we are now,” the superintendent detailed. 

Meva said the suspect was arrested in the Nyalla neighbourhood in Douala, in the Littoral Region. This, he said, was after the number of the suspect used was traced to the economic capital. He said the suspect will appear before a State Prosecutor in Douala Tuesday.

Suspect familiar, notorious face 

According to the police, this is not the first time Abessolo is being arrested over wrongdoing. Meva told journalists that the suspect has been arrested and paraded by police on multiple occasions, including as recent as 2020 and 2021. 

Superintendent Meva said the suspect recently served a four-month prison sentence for similar offences. He said the suspect has also impersonated the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Jules Doret Ndongo. 

Police urges legislators to criminalise impersonation, fraud offences

Meva further urged the state, especially the legislative arm of the government, to institute a law that punishes impersonation and fraud offences severely.

Unlike what currently obtains where crimes like impersonation are not criminalised and have a punishment of maximum six months imprisonment, the superintendent of police said there is need for severe punishment for perpetrators.

“Comparatively, in next door Cote d’Ivoire, such an offence is punishable by a prison sentence of between five to 10 years,” he noted. He also urged the population to report suspects to law officers.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3204 Tuesday August 20, 2024