The Ethiopian Federal Police have filed corruption charges against 13 individuals, including a former ministry project manager, following a high-tech investigation that successfully intercepted 965,508 USD converted into cryptocurrency.
The high-profile case centers around severe financial irregularities and administrative abuse within the Ethiopian Labour Market Information System (ELMIS) project under the Ministry of Labour and Skills. According to federal authorities, the coordinated investigation involved multiple security and regulatory organs, including the Information Network Security Administration (INSA) and the National Bank of Ethiopia, aiming to dismantle a complex financial crime network.
Investigators uncovered that the primary suspect, former project manager Berhanu Aleka Asgedom, abused his official responsibility by bypassing quality assurance protocols and operating the digital system outside of established legal frameworks. The scheme enabled the illegal issuance of Vocational Competence (COC) certificates to 81,236 unqualified individuals through unauthorized administrative access granted to external actors. Furthermore, the illicit operation generated over 1.01 billion birr through fabricated bank accounts while facilitating the illegal migration of 64,500 citizens to Jordan and other Arab nations using forged visa documents.
To conceal the illicit proceeds, the suspects utilized sophisticated techniques to convert substantial sums into digital assets, alongside acquiring multi-million-birr properties and luxury vehicles. Through joint inter-agency technological tracking, law enforcement successfully froze and recovered assets worth tens of millions of birrs, including six high-end residential properties in Addis Ababa and a V6 luxury vehicle, alongside the cryptocurrency holdings that were safely redirected to the National Bank of Ethiopia.
The Federal Police have confirmed that criminal charges have been officially forwarded to the Ministry of Justice’s Office of the Attorney General. Meanwhile, investigations remain active to track down remaining accomplices and un-remitted foreign currency transactions linked to suspended employment agencies. Authorities have also urged citizens—particularly families whose relatives went missing after migrating abroad—to step forward with tips and testimonies using official channels such as the EFP App and the toll-free hotline 991.
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