Federal authorities transfer major corruption case involving the ELMIS project to the Ministry of Justice, recovering millions in cash, cryptocurrency, and properties
By Staff Writer
(Nairobi, Kenya) — The Ethiopian Federal Police have finalized an anti-corruption investigation into a 1 billion Birr fraud scheme involving the Ethiopian Labor Market Information System (ELMIS) project under the Ministry of Labor and Skills, transferring the case file to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution.
Police officials confirmed that primary suspect and former ELMIS project office manager Birhanu Aleka Asgedom, alongside 12 co-defendants—including ministry employees, labor recruitment agency owners, and external accomplices—faces formal charges following an investigation initiated in July 2025. Investigators revealed that the suspects bypassed standard technical verification procedures to deploy an unverified system, issuing fraudulent Certificates of Competency (COC) to 81,236 uncertified individuals. Suspects also granted unauthorized system administrator access to three external individuals to facilitate the illicit issuance of professional certifications.
Through two fraudulent bank accounts, the network collected over 1 billion Birr. Federal authorities froze 249 million Birr held in commercial accounts, while a specialized technology-assisted investigation secured a court order to freeze $965,508 USD converted into cryptocurrency, transferring the funds directly to the National Bank of Ethiopia. The probe also uncovered 10.1 million Birr received in bribes to illegally lift administrative suspensions on recruitment agencies, alongside the unauthorized dispatch of 64,500 citizens to Jordan and other Middle Eastern nations using fraudulent visa documentation.
In coordination with the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), the Information Network Security Administration (INSA), the Financial Intelligence Center, and the National Bank, law enforcement seized six luxury residential properties in Addis Ababa’s Lemi Kura, Bole, and Kirkos sub-cities valued between 55 million and 68 million Birr each, along with a high-end vehicle valued at 68 million Birr. Police confirmed that investigations regarding affiliated agencies remain ongoing and urged affected families and witnesses to submit information through official law enforcement portals.
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