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Congolese billionaire Lucien Ebata, a member of President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou-Nguesso’s inner circle, was arrested at Paris’ Le Bourget Airport and taken into custody on Oct. 6.
According to Africa Intelligence, the businessman was arrested at the airport while carrying a large amount of cash.
According to the report, French Customs officials arrested the businessman for carrying a large amount of cash that had not been declared to the authorities. He was taken into police custody.
Lucien Ebata is the founder and CEO of Orion Oil, an oil trading company, and publisher of Forbes Afrique. He is a special adviser to the president and holds a diplomatic passport and a letter of mission signed by the Congolese head of state. As such, he enjoys functional immunity.
Similar events in October 2012
This is not the first time that Ebata has been arrested in an international airport for possessing a large amount of undeclared cash. In October 2012, he was apprehended at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport with more than 180,000 euro. “Some of my clients for Africa pay me cash,” he explained to French investigators at the time, “because transfers take time.”
