Ivorian BCC Chiefs Arrested on Cocoa Fraud Charges Source: Reuters 19/06/2008      Abidjan, June 19 - Police in Ivory Coast arrested top officials of the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) marketing body on Thursday in a widening crackdown on fraud in the cocoa sector, court and police sources said. Daily News Alerts    - We respect your privacy - The West African country is the world's top cocoa grower, producing more than a third of world supply. BCC President Lucien Tape Do and Managing Director Tano Kassi Kadio were arrested on Thursday morning, a day after two other leading cocoa sector officials were arrested. The four are among 23 leaders of Ivorian cocoa and coffee industry bodies facing charges in an anti-graft investigation ordered by President Laurent Gbagbo. The investigation followed allegations in the local media of the embezzlement of more than 100 billion CFA francs ($236 million) meant to help develop the sector, whose murky finances have become even less transparent since a 2002/03 civil war. "Tape Do was arrested a few minutes ago over the accusations contained in the chief public prosecutor's report. He was questioned briefly by the investigating judge who then had him arrested," a court source told Reuters. Shortly afterwards, the same source said Kadio had also been arrested. Police said the pair would be transferred to the main jail in the commercial capital Abidjan. Henri Kassi Amouzou, head of the Fund for the Development and Promotion of the Activities of Cocoa and Coffee Producers (FDPCC), and the fund's Director General Theophile Kouassi were already at the jail after being arrested on Wednesday. PRISON TERMS Gbagbo, who is widely expected to seek another term in post-war elections on Nov. 30, told Reuters last week the investigation would lead to prosecutions and jail terms for those found guilty. Since years before the war started, foreign donors have complained about reports of corruption in the cocoa sector administration, which levies hefty charges on each kilogram of cocoa exported. Cocoa smuggling is rife on the borders of Ivory Coast and foreign diplomats and analysts say Gbagbo's government has been slow to tackle persistent reports of corruption. A joint World Bank and International Monetary Fund mission to the former French colony in 2006 called for more transparency on how revenues from the cocoa sector are spent. Farmers' representatives have repeatedly called for the leaders of the cocoa industry bodies to be replaced and have staged numerous strikes and demonstrations in past months, some of which have temporarily disrupted cocoa exports. Ivory Coast liberalised its cocoa sector in 2000, ending a system of guaranteed prices and scrapping the state-run Caistab which controlled the sector, but leaving in place a system of agencies and subsidies to promote and regulate production. Ivory Coast usually produces more than 1 million tonnes of cocoa beans a year and cocoa accounts for around 40 percent of export revenue and around 15 percent of gross domestic product.

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