Ethiopia Detains Melaku Fenta & Gebrewahed W. Giorgis

May 10, 2013

The Ethiopian Federal Anti-Corruption Commission (FACC) has arrested 16 people including top government officials  on suspicion of  ”corruption related crimes” this afternoon, State TV announced.  Melaku Fenta, Director of Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority (ERCA) and member of the Executive Committee of Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the ruling coalition EPRDF and  Gebrewahid Woldegiorgis, Deputy Director and Head of Law Enforcement at the ERCA are among those detained.

Based on tips that the Commission got from the public and conducting an investigation in liaison with the National Information Service and after gathering sufficient human and material evidence, the Commission has put the suspects under police custody until the case appears before Court they will remain in Prison, the Commission said in its statement.

Melaku was an official at the Prime Minister’s Office during the late PM Meles’ tenure before he was appointed to the Authority.

In a related news, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) Executive Committee is to hold a meeting tomorrow. The Front is said to be discussing the results of the recent local and city council elections and recent developments within the Party.
The rest of those detained yesterday were :
1.እሸቱ ወልደሰማያት – በገቢዎችና ጉምሩክ ባለስልጣን የአቃቤ ህግ ዳይሬክቶሬት ዳይሬክተር
Eshetu Wodesmayat – Prosecutor Directorate Director at ERCA

2.አስመላሽ ወልደማሪያም- የቃሊቲ ጉምሩክ ኃላፊ
Asmelash Woldemariam- Kaliti Customs Head

3.ጥሩነህ በርታ- በገቢዎችና ጉምሩክ ባለስልጣን የተወረሱ ንብረቶች አስተዳደር ቡድን መሪ
Tiruneh Berta – ERCA Confiscation Admin Group Head
4.አምኘ ታገለ- የናዝሬት ጉምሩክ ኃላፊ
Amogne Tagele – Nazret Customs Head
5.ሙሉጌታ ጋሻው- በኦሮሚያ ልዩ ዞን መሀንዲስ
Mulugeta Gashaw – Oromia Zone Engineer
6.ከተማ ከበደ- የኬኬ ትሬዲንግ ባለቤት
Ketema Kebede – Owner of KK Trading
7.ስማቸው ከበደ- የኢንተርኮንቴንታል ሆቴል ባለቤት
Semachew Kebede – Owner of Intercontinental Hotel
8.ምህረት አብ አብርሀ- ባለሀብት
Mehreteab Abraha – Investor
9.ነጋ ገብረእግዚአብሄር- የነፃ ትሬዲግ ኃላፊነቱ የተወሰነ የግል ማህበር ባለቤት
Nega G/Egziabher – Owner of Netsa Trading PLC
10.ዘሪሁን ዘውዴ -ትራንዚተርና ደላላ
Zerihun Zewede – Transistor and Broker
11.ማርሸት ተስፉ – ትራንዚተርና ደላላ ናቸው፡፡
Marishet Assefa – Transistor and Broker

Source De Birhan