Senegal's Sall Wants ‘Truth’ as Brother Accused of Corruption

(Bloomberg) -- The Senegalese government denied any wrongdoing in a gas concession deal that a BBC report alleged was fraudulent and involved a brother of President Macky Sall.

Allegations that the West African nation could lose billions of dollars in revenue in the deal is “pure imagination,” a government spokeswoman, Ndeye Ndiaye Diop, said Wednesday at a press briefing.

The report prompted widespread demands for investigations in Senegal, which is due to become a major oil and gas exporter in coming years after offshore discoveries. In a report broadcast Monday, the BBC alleges that Romanian-Australian businessman Frank Timis, whose company Petro-Timis originally won the rights to two gas blocks under the previous administration, made dubious payments to Sall’s brother, Aliou, to keep the concession.

BP Plc bought Timis’ stake in the gas project in a 2017 under a deal in which it agreed to pay Petro-Timis as much $12 billion in royalties, according to the BBC report. Both BP and Frank Timis denied any wrongdoing over the gas deal.

President Sall on Wednesday said he wants the “truth to be restored” and called on those accusing his brother of fraud to present evidence, according to state-run Agence de Presse Senegalaise. Aliou Sall rejected the allegations at a press briefing on Monday and threatened to seek legal action against the BBC.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alonso Soto in Dakar at asoto54@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Liezel Hill

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