The sister of deposed president Ali Bongo is accused of passive corruption. During this second day of hearing, the trial got to the heart of the matter. It was the directors of the Egis Route company who were called to the stand.
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The company is accused of having paid 8,000,000 euros to Pascaline Bongo to help it win public contracts in Gabon. The judge questioned the company’s executives to find out who did what, what the procedures were to prevent corruption, to assess financial risks and above all, who were responsible for certain decisions, notably that of choosing Sift, Pascaline’s company. Bongo, as a partner while she occupied the functions of the presidency.
Christian Laugier was the first to speak out. general director of Egis Route at the time, he explained that he was not aware that Pascaline Bongo had such functions, otherwise he would have blocked any partnership given the risk of conflict of interest, adding that Egis had zero tolerance for corruption.
“ When you want to establish yourself in a country, you need a local partner, this is the ba–ba », indicated for his part Gérard Vallat. The former deputy general manager says he did not know that Pascaline Bongo was at the head of Sift. “ I discovered it during my interview with the investigators “. It was Yannick Couegnat who brought Pascaline Bongo into the game. The former operational director had an acquaintance in Cameroon. Who introduced him to Franck Ping, son of the former minister Jean Ping, who himself put them in touch with the eldest Bongo.
The former director did not know that she was another representative of the presidency and that there was a risk of conflict of interest, despite a face-to-face meeting at the seaside palace in Libreville . “ I had read in the press that she had been pushed aside by her brother », Indicates Yannick Couegnat. Now retired, he continues to be questioned by judges. We are waiting later or tomorrow for the highly anticipated interrogation of Pascaline Bongo who is patiently waiting for her turn.
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