NOUAKCHOTT, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A former Central Bank governor of Mauritania is asked to return 95 million U. S. dollars stolen between 2001 and 2002, police sources said on Monday.

The former governor, Sid'Elmoctar Ould Nagi, is suspected of fraud in which the money was transferred by the bank under his instructions.

Ould Nagi was asked by the police unit in charge of fighting economic crimes to return this money which, according to investigators, was transferred without leaving behind any traces in the plan to bail out some of Nouakchott's primary banks and went to renown companies and prominent businessmen.

The former governor and minister under the regime of Maouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya (1984-2005) has been held by the police since Friday.

In an inquiry that has been expedited by the police to eradicate economic crimes, several businessmen and Mauritanian bank directors were questioned on Sunday evening.

Ould Nagi was also Mauritania's ambassador to Paris between 2003 and 2005 after occupying several ministerial posts.