Treasury-bill trouble at Central Bank

The government of Sao Tome and Principe has fired its central bank’s governor, executive board and audit committee over an alleged multimillion-dollar scam involving treasury bills, AP reported. The dismissals were announced on Wednesday. According to AP, the bank’s governor signed treasury bills worth US $500 million without authorisation. Three unidentified foreigners were detained by Belgian police at the request of the Sao Tome authorities when they tried unsuccessfully to exchange the treasury bills at a bank in Brussels, AP said. Meanwhile an investigation continues into the alleged embezzlement in December 1998 of US $1 million from a Sao Tome government account in a Paris bank, AP reported.