A key official in African football’s governing organization is being investigated in Switzerland on suspicion of illicit money laundering, but he asserted Thursday that the bank payments in question were “legitimate”.
Veron Mosengo-Omba, the general secretary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), based in Cairo, is under investigation in the western canton of Fribourg.
In a statement on X, he argued that the cash transfers under investigation were “legitimate,” transparent, and included “remuneration and bonuses” from CAF.
The public prosecutor’s office in Freiburg requested that the case be handled by Switzerland’s national Office of the Attorney General.
However, a Swiss court dismissed that bid on September 13, naming just the general secretary of an Egyptian-based association.
Mosengo-Omba was identified on Wednesday by the Swiss investigative news site Gotham City, which focuses on financial crime in Switzerland.
According to the court ruling, which Mosengo-Omba provided a link to, the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) notified Fribourg prosecutors in February.
MROS said its analysis of transactions showed the general secretary “had, on several occasions, obtained bonuses much higher than the maximum set in his employment contract… and received all of these bonuses and salaries in a variety of Swiss accounts.
“We were unable to identify transfers between his Swiss accounts with establishments in Egypt.”
‘Full Transparency’
MROS cited transfers between personal accounts and cash withdrawals, “hindering any possibility of tracing the use of said funds”.
“These various elements… constitute a bundle of evidence giving rise to suspicions of acts of criminal mismanagement”, said MROS.
In a statement on X, Mosengo-Omba said the “legitimate and accountable” bank transfers “refer to remuneration and bonus I have received from CAF… and they were made in full transparency”.
Noting that no criminal proceedings had been initiated, he said the money was “in full compliance with the CAF statutes”.
“Nevertheless, and because it is in my interest that the matter is clarified quickly and definitely, I have notified the Prosecutor of the Canton of Fribourg of my availability to answer any queries and provide him with any information he may require.
“I also contacted the banks to clarify eventual doubts that may have arisen.”
CAF has 54 national member associations and its president is the South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe.
The organisation is battling to improve its image after widespread allegations of corruption. Its previous president Ahmad Ahmad was suspended by FIFA in 2020 for financial misconduct.
Le Temps newspaper noted Thursday how Mosengo-Omba, a Congolese-Swiss dual national, fled the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1980 and studied law at the University of Fribourg, alongside current FIFA president Gianni Infantino, with the pair becoming friends.