BANJUL, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Justice Minister of the Gambia Aboubacarr Tambadou on Monday said they have obtained a court order to freeze the known assets in the country belonging to former president Yahya Jammeh.
"We have obtained a court order freezing the known assets in the country of the former President Yahya Jammeh or companies directly associated with him," he said at a press conference at his office in Banjul.
The freezing order affects 131 land properties held in the personal name of Jammeh or companies or organizations directly associated with Jammeh, Tambadou explained, adding that they have found out that 86 different bank accounts were held in the personal names of Yahya Jammeh or companies associated with him.
"There were also 14 companies and number of livestock purportedly belonging to former President Jammeh," he continued.
The Attorney General and Justice Minister informed that his office has received the court order on Monday.
"The application for the freezing order was necessitated by the discovery of unauthorized withdrawals of millions of dalasis and foreign currencies by former President Yahya Jammeh from the Central Bank and other state corporations," he said.
According to him, the preliminary investigations have revealed that between 2006 and 2017, Yahya Jammeh personally or under his instruction directed the unlawful withdrawal of at least D189 million from funds belonging to Social Security and Hounsing Finance Corporation.
"All indications are that these discoveries are a tip of the iceberg. This list is by no means exhaustive. We request anyone with information to come forward and share this information to the nearest police station," he concluded.
