The management of the Société Africaine de Raffinage (SAR), from 2020 to the present day, is now the subject of an investigation by the Financial Judicial Pool, entrusted to the Division of Criminal Investigations (DIC). According to information reported by L’Observateur, an influential personality of the company was heard on Monday by investigators as part of this procedure.
Under the apparently calm layer of financial statements, something seems to have started to heat up at SAR. In this den of highly flammable products, old habits, stemming from the house, could well, if they have left the slightest trace of fault, be exposed to a fierce legal fire. Like the almost completed audit investigation into the management of public finances from 2019 to 2024, the Financial Judicial Pool has opened a new file entrusted to the DIC, this time concerning the internal and financial management of SAR, from 2020 to the present day.
Audition and alleged complaint from the AJE
This Monday, the said personality was heard by investigators. According to information from L’Observateur, she was confronted in the afternoon by one of their reporters and confirmed having been questioned, while politely but firmly refusing to comment on the content.
While some observers link her presence in the DIC premises, located on Rue de Condé, to an alleged complaint filed by the Agent Judiciaire de l’État (AJE), sources close to the investigation, cited by L’Observateur, indicate rather that the said personality of SAR was invited to provide technical and financial details on certain aspects of the company’s management.
Still according to L’Observateur, this broad-spectrum investigation focuses on financial movements estimated at several hundred billion CFA francs. The police officers of the Financial Judicial Pool are tasked with examining internal accounting and ordering contracts related to various petroleum products – butane gas, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, and fuel oil – going back to the 2020 fiscal year.
The investigations are also expected to focus on insurance management and the recruitment of providers involved in certain technical and financial operations of SAR. These checks aim to determine any irregularities in the awarding of contracts, accounting flows, and supply chains.
For now, no conclusion has been drawn yet, but according to information from L’Observateur, investigators intend to continue with hearings in the coming days, including those of former officials and administrative executives who worked at SAR between 2020 and 2024.
