General Secretary of the Confederation of African Football, Veron Mosengo-Omba, is currently under investigation in Switzerland for alleged criminal mismanagement of funds.
Despite the scrutiny, Mosengo-Omba has firmly maintained that the financial transfers under question were “legitimate.”
The investigation is being handled by the public prosecutor’s office in the Swiss canton of Fribourg.
They were first alerted by Switzerland’s Money Laundering Reporting Office which flagged irregularities in Mosengo-Omba’s banking activities.
According to MROS, their analysis found that Mosengo-Omba had received “bonuses much higher than the maximum set in his employment contract,” and these payments were directed to several Swiss accounts.
Moreover, MROS could not trace any transactions between Mosengo-Omba’s Swiss accounts and institutions in Egypt, where CAF is based, raising further concerns.
Fribourg’s public prosecutors initially sought to hand the case over to Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General, but this request was denied in a ruling on September 13, which only identified the individual involved as the general secretary of an Egypt-based organization.
However, Swiss investigative platform Gotham City revealed that Mosengo-Omba was the figure at the center of the investigation.
In a post on X, Mosengo-Omba defended his actions, insisting that the funds under examination were “remuneration and bonus” payments from CAF.
He emphasized that these transactions were “legitimate and accountable,” conducted with “full transparency,” and in accordance with CAF’s statutes.
He also stressed that no criminal proceedings had been initiated against him.
Despite this, the MROS report pointed to several problematic aspects, including transfers between personal accounts and cash withdrawals that made it difficult to track how the funds were used.
These factors, according to MROS, contributed to “a bundle of evidence giving rise to suspicions of acts of criminal mismanagement.”
In his defense, Mosengo-Omba stated that he had reached out to both the Fribourg prosecutor and his banks to offer his cooperation and resolve any questions that may have arisen.
“It is in my interest that the matter is clarified quickly and definitely,” he said.
CAF, which governs 54 national football associations across Africa, has been working to rebuild its reputation after several corruption scandals.
Mosengo-Omba took over as general secretary in 2021, following a period of turmoil in the organization.
His predecessor, Ahmad Ahmad, was banned by FIFA in 2020 over financial misconduct.
The current president of CAF, South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, has been pushing for reforms aimed at restoring the organization’s image.
A Congolese-Swiss dual national, Mosengo-Omba fled the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1980 and pursued law studies at the University of Fribourg, where he developed a close friendship with current FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Their longstanding relationship has drawn some attention in the wake of this investigation.
