In the United Kingdom, a former adviser to the Malagasy president found guilty of corruption

2024-02-21T03:51:09.172Z

Highlights: In the United Kingdom, a former adviser to the Malagasy president found guilty of corruption. Romy Andrianarisoa, 47, was close to President Andry Rajoelina. She was arrested in flagrante delicto of corruption at the beginning of August in London, with her French associate. The jury accuses them of having sought, between 2021 and 2023, to obtain $310,000 from Gemfields, a British company specializing in the extraction of rubies and emeralds.

Tuesday evening, in London, the former chief of staff of President Andry Rajoelina was found guilty of corruption by the British courts for having demanded bribes from a company...

In the United Kingdom, a former adviser to the Malagasy president found guilty of corruption

Tuesday evening, in London, the former chief of staff of President Andry Rajoelina was found guilty of corruption by the British courts for having demanded bribes from a United Kingdom mining company in exchange for an operating license mining. This close friend of the Malagasy president was arrested in flagrante delicto of corruption at the beginning of August in London, with her French associate. She faces up to ten years in prison.

Romy Andrianarisoa, 47, close to Malagasy President Rajoelina, was found guilty of corruption in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2024. AFP - -

By: RFI Follow

With our correspondent in Antananarivo,

Sarah Tétaud

“

I never asked for payment for myself

,” Romy Andrianarisoa, 47, told the jury at Southwark Crown Court, according to comments reported by Reuters.

A defense which clearly did not convince the London court. Yesterday evening, Andry Rajoelina's former chief of staff was declared "

guilty of corruption

" with the man presented as her associate, Philippe Tabuteau, following a secret investigation carried out by the National Crime Agency, the UK crime fighting agency.

The jury accuses them of having sought, between 2021 and 2023, to obtain $310,000 from Gemfields, a British company specializing in the extraction of rubies and emeralds, and a 5% stake in the subsidiary operating mines in

Madagascar

, in exchange for mining licenses.

“

Romy Andrianarisoa is a corrupt civil servant who chose to enrich himself in the exercise of his public functions

,” said prosecutor Thomas Short, according to his comments reported by AFP.

Romy Andrianarisoa, working with President Andry Rajoelina when he was arrested last August, pleaded not guilty during a hearing in September. The former advisor to the Malagasy head of state has since been imprisoned in the United Kingdom. Her sentence will be known on March 18: she faces up to ten years in prison.

In the United Kingdom, a former adviser to the Malagasy president found guilty of corruption

In the United Kingdom, a former adviser to the Malagasy president found guilty of corruption

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