The police announced on Monday, May 8, the arrest of the head of the savings and credit cooperative “Divine Grace Luzingu” accused of having embezzled the money of more than 1000 people. The cooperative had been established in the city of Bandundu, in the province of Kwilu for more than a year.
The suspect, Jérémie Etoyi, had fled Bandundu in March with money from savers. He was arrested in Kenge, thanks to the collaboration between the general prosecutor’s offices of Kenge and Bandundu. According to the intelligence officer of the Kwango police, Colonel Mokobi Mobongo, Jérémie Etoyi will be transferred to Bandundu to be tried.
This is not the first time that a credit union has taken savers’ money with it to Kwilu province. In less than three years, this has happened three times. These dubious practices have a heavy impact on the local economy. The victims of these misappropriations often find themselves in precarious financial situations, hoping to get out of their difficulties thanks to investments in these cooperatives.
In short, this arrest shows that measures must be taken to better regulate the practices of these savings and credit cooperatives. The protection of savers must be a top priority to prevent these misappropriations from happening again in the future.