A Senegalese lawmaker and close ally of former President Macky Sall has been charged and jailed for alleged financial crimes in Dakar.
Mouhamadou Ngom, known as Farba, was accused of money laundering, fraud of public funds, and criminal association by a special anti-corruption unit.
Ngom, who also serves as a mayor in northern Senegal, was imprisoned following a judicial decision that stunned his legal team.
“He is being put in prison while waiting to find out what he did,” his lawyer Doudou Ndoye told AFP in disbelief.
The lawmaker lost his parliamentary immunity on January 24, allowing authorities to proceed with the case against him.
Prosecutors claim investigators uncovered a complex money laundering scheme involving shell companies and transactions worth over 125 billion CFA francs.
Local reports suggest several other figures linked to the Sall administration are under scrutiny in the widening investigation.
On Thursday, Ngom’s supporters gathered near police headquarters in Dakar before being forcibly dispersed by security forces.
His allies have denounced the charges as politically motivated, accusing the new administration of targeting opponents.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, elected last March, has vowed to break from past corruption and enforce transparency in governance.
