Former Peace Corps Niger Cashier Found Guilty of Theft and Embezzlement



The Peace Corps Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced today that former Peace Corps/Niger Cashier Koffi Fiayowife Ametefe was found guilty of charges related to fraud and embezzlement of Peace Corps funds by a magistrate court in Niamey, Niger. Ametefe was sentenced to one year imprisonment, a fine, and ordered to pay full restitution, plus interest, of the embezzled funds. Inspector General Kathy A. Buller noted that the stewardship of U.S. taxpayer dollars is a top priority for the Peace Corps. "Ametefe violated the trust that every Peace Corps staff member should uphold. OIG will continue to be persistent and unrelenting in its pursuit of violators of the Peace Corps' trust and will support local law enforcement efforts to ensure justice is served."

Former Peace Corps Niger Cashier Found Guilty of Theft and Embezzlement

Former Peace Corps Niger Cashier Found Guilty of Theft and Embezzlement

Washington, D.C., February 7, 2012 - The Peace Corps Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced today that former Peace Corps/Niger Cashier Koffi Fiayowife Ametefe was found guilty of charges related to fraud and embezzlement of Peace Corps funds by a magistrate court in Niamey, Niger. Ametefe was sentenced to one year imprisonment, a fine, and ordered to pay full restitution, plus interest, of the embezzled funds.

The ruling capped a long running investigation, which stemmed from a 2007 OIG audit that documented Ametefe had embezzled or stolen approximately $41,000 from PC/Niger operations. The allegations first surfaced when the PC/Niger administrative officer found irregularities in Ametefe's books. Ametefe denied any wrongdoing but shortly thereafter stole contents from a PC/Niger safe and then fled to Togo.

In April 2010, OIG received a tip that Ametefe had returned to Niger. OIG special agents verified the tip, met with the Director of the Niger National Judiciary Police (NNJP), and worked with both the U.S. Embassy's Regional Security Office in Niamey and PC/Niger to file a formal criminal complaint. Based on the complaint, Ametefe was arrested and detained by the NNJP. On February 6, 2012, Ametefe was found guilty as charged in the complaint.

Inspector General Kathy A. Buller noted that the stewardship of U.S. taxpayer dollars is a top priority for the Peace Corps. "Ametefe violated the trust that every Peace Corps staff member should uphold. OIG will continue to be persistent and unrelenting in its pursuit of violators of the Peace Corps' trust and will support local law enforcement efforts to ensure justice is served."

OIG commends the actions of NNJP and appreciates the cooperation of the Peace Corps' Offices of Safety and Security and General Counsel; PC/Niger; the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and its Regional Security Office in Niamey; and the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Foreign Litigation in supporting the prosecution of this matter.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: February, 2012; Peace Corps Niger; Directory of Niger RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Niger RPCVs; Crime; Staff

When this story was posted in March 2012, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

---

Mark Shriver Speaks Truth to Power Sargent Shriver spoke truth to power to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and to every leader he met. "He would know that during the 2008 election, President Obama campaigned on doubling the size of the Peace Corps. That is not even close to happening - indeed, there is a long waiting list of 20 new countries requesting Peace Corps programs. Do we really mean to have peace? If so, why isn't it beginning here, in the United States? Or are we just supporting the rhetoric and spending the money elsewhere?"

---

PC Security Under Review in Honduras A Peace Corps Volunteer was shot in the right leg during an attack on a bus on December 4 in Honduras, a country that suffers the world's highest murder rate. All 158 PCVs are safe and accounted for and will participate in a conference in January before returning to the US on administrative leave as Peace Corps announced on December 21 that the agency will review the safety and security climate in Honduras before continuing with volunteer operations. El Salvador and Guatemala are also being monitored.

---

The "Sharp Incident" in Kazakhstan After Peace Corps' decision to suspend their program in Kazakhstan new information from US diplomatic cables cites elements in the Kazakhstani "pro-Russian old-guard at the Committee for National Security (the KNB, successor to the KGB) that aimed at discrediting the Peace Corps and damaging bilateral relations" with the US. Read how one Peace Corps volunteer was sentenced to two years imprisonment in 2009 after "what appeared to be a classic Soviet-style set-up."

---

Peasants Come Last Bureaucracy in Peace Corps Washington is like the dark side of the moon - everybody knows it's there but who knew there was so much of it. Read three excerpts from former Uganda Country Director J. Larry Brown's book "Peasants Come Last" about Peace Corps' bloated bureaucracy in Washington, why three Country Directors in the Africa region were fired in the final days of the Bush administration by Acting Director Jody Olsen, and Brown's ideas on the future of the Peace Corps.

---

Oct 10, 2011: 50 Years of Peace Corps Leadership Fifty Years of Peace Corps Leadership 10 Oct John Coyne writes: Watching the Peace Corps Hearings 6 Oct Peace Corps to Re-Open Tunisia Program 7 Oct Ralph Bolton founded Chijnaya Foundation 7 Oct Gordon Radley Fulfills Pledge to Fallen Brother 6 Oct Hazle Shorter Delivered Babies in Malawi 6 Oct Chuck Ludlam Opposes Peace Corps Monument 4 Oct Chris Shays Announces Senate Run 4 Oct Foreign Aid to Take a Hit in US Budget Crisis 3 Oct Ron Peters was PCV in Philippines I 2 Oct Taylor Dibbert writes: PC Safety Claims Mostly Baseless 29 Sep Senate Passes PC Whisteblower Bill 27 Sep RPCVs Gather at Arlington National Cemetery 26 Sep Rhoda Brooks is Pioneer Peace Corps Writer 26 Sep Robert Ford is America's Man in Syria 25 Sep Ambassador Kathleen Stephens Departs Korea 25 Sep Gene Cretz is US Ambassador to Libya 23 Sep Adam Klein Returns to Mali to Record Album 22 Sep PC Donates Artifacts to American History Museum 21 Sep Jennifer Monahan designed and built classrooms 21 Sep Bill Bull was CD in Madagascar Liberia and Kenya 21 Sep MacArthur Winner Peter Hessler to Study Arabic in Egypt 20 Sep David Whitman Directs "Technology Benefiting Humanity" 19 Sep

---

Congressional Hearings on Sexual Assault Congress held hearings on the sexual assault of Peace Corps volunteers. Read the testimony of RPCVs on how the problem is still ongoing, and not limited to any particular country or region. Director Williams says that "it has become apparent to me that the Peace Corps has not always been sufficiently responsive or sensitive to victims of crime and their families. I sincerely regret that." Read what the Peace Corps is doing to address the issue. Latest: Background on sexual assault of PCVs.

---

Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years As we move into the Peace Corps' second fifty years, what single improvement would most benefit the mission of the Peace Corps? Read our op-ed about the creation of a private charitable non-profit corporation, independent of the US government, whose focus would be to provide support and funding for third goal activities. Returned Volunteers need President Obama to support the enabling legislation, already written and vetted, to create the Peace Corps Foundation. RPCVs will do the rest.

---

Join Us Mr. President! "We will double the size of the Peace Corps by its 50th anniversary in 2011. And we'll reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity," said Barack Obama during his campaign. Returned Volunteers rally and and march to the White House to support a bold new Peace Corps for a new age. Latest: Senator Dodd introduces Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act of 2009 .

Read the stories and leave your comments.