Mauritanian banks and a businessman have agreed to repay "illicit transfers" made from the central bank in 2001 and 2002, a judicial source said Friday.
"The managing directors of banks and a businessman have appeared before the prosecutor of the republic in the case of the illicit transfers by the Central Bank and have agreed to repay the sums that are due," the source said.

The amount in question and the names of the bank chairmen involved could not be divulged because of "the secrecy of the inquiry," added the source, who said that the meeting took place on Thursday.

President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz raised the case during his campaign for election on July 18 and spoke of the sum of "more than 15 billion ouguiyas" (almost 39 million euros / almost 58 million dollars).

A large part of the money is believed to have gone to top officials in the regime of Maaouiya Ould Taya (1984-2005) and to companies linked with the banks involved in the affair, according to security sources.

Mauritanian police on Sunday questioned the managing directors of the banks concerned about the illicit transfers, less than a week after the arrest of the former governor of the Central Bank who held the post in 2001 and 2002.

These measures are part of a major anti-corruption campaign launched by Ould Abdel Aziz. This operation has unearthed cases of large-scale embezzlement and has already led to the sacking of several highly-placed officials in state-run companies.

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