Emirati who alleges Togo fraud questioned by judge

An Emirati who claims he was the victim of a $48 million fraud in the West African nation of Togo in a scam allegedly involving the ex-head of French oil giant Elf appeared before a judge here on Thursday.

Abbas Al Yousef, who manages investments, including in the oil industry, was questioned by the investigating judge for a couple of hours accompanied by two of his lawyers.

He did not comment when entering and leaving the court in the capital Lome.

The ex-head of French oil giant Elf, Loik Le Floch-Prigent, has been charged with accessory to fraud in the case and has faced questioning by the judge twice this week since being extradited from Ivory Coast.

Al Yousef claims Le Floch-Prigent, currently a consultant in the oil industry, was acting as his personal adviser at the time of the alleged fraud.

The case centres on accusations that a network claimed to have access to $275 million in a Togolese account left by former Ivorian military ruler Robert Guei, who was killed in 2002.

Al Yousef alleges the $48 million was embezzled from him in the affair.

Togo’s former minister of territorial administration, Pascal Bodjona, has also been charged in the case, as has Togolese businessman Bertin Sow Agba.

Al Yousef claims he was the victim of an advance fee fraud involving Bodjona, and says the former minister’s name and position were used to establish trust.