BUJUMBURA June 13th (ABP) – 1724 pieces of loincloth, 369 mobile phones, 202 pairs of shoes, 161 bottles of wines of different kinds, a Probox car and a boat, all worth more than 100 million Burundian francs, were handed over to the OBR on Friday June 10, 2022. Those objects were seized during an anti-fraud campaign carried out by the police since March 11, 2022, informed the spokesperson of the ministry having the public security in his attributions, Mr. Pierre Nkurikiye.
According to Mr. Nkurikiye, 9 alleged perpetrators of this fraud, including 2 police officers and a Congolese, were arrested and brought to justice to be tried in accordance with the law. Apart from these nine, he reported the existence of other as yet unidentified fraudsters who may flee before being apprehended.
He specified that these seized goods were coming from the DR Congo, specifying that the campaign was carried out on the Burundian-Congolese border. The campaign continues and is being done on all the borders of the country with a redoubled effort, so that traders operate within the standards of the law.
The commissioner in charge of investigations, information and risk management at the OBR, Mr. Jean Berchimas Niyonzima indicated that an auction of these products will be organized, and the proceeds of this sale will be paid into the account of the public treasure. In view of the results of this campaign, Mr. Niyonzima praised the effort of the Burundi police and the transparency displayed during these operations.
Mr. Nkurikiye thanked the people who provided information on those cases of fraud and invited all Burundians to denounce such cases.