Infamous loan 'shark' gets 22 years in jail

July 27, 2010 (ADDIS ABABA) - Ayele Debela, an infamous moneylender in town, got three years short of a life imprisonment on Tuesday after being indicted on ten different criminal charges. Ayele, nicknamed the ‘IMF’, is implicated in the illegal loaning of over 102 million birr for 80 people and private companies, charging an excessive interest rate which is a crime under Ethiopian law.

The decision of the Supreme Court also took into account the 22 million birr tax fraud of companies registered under his name. 

Altogether, ‘IMF’ was charged with manipulating ten different accounts and was convicted on all of them with an aggregate of 65 years in jail. However, under Ethiopian law the maximum prison sentence is 25 years, which is also considered to be a life sentence. Hence the court decided that there were no legal grounds to pass a life imprisonment on the subject. In addition, the ruling also included confiscation of Ayele’s personal properties with another 308 thousand birr fine payable to the court.  Furthermore, he is stripped of any of his civil rights for the next five years, which he is going to spend in a prison cell anyway.  

The prosecution case, which was opened last year, largely rested on the alleged activities of illegally conducting a banking service without proper authorization from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). Through the years he had accumulated a lot of money from an excessive interest rate and valuables held as collateral in his illicit line of business.

In light of the prosecution's claim that the defendant’s properties should be confiscated for he had appropriated it illegally, the court decided that cash in the amount of 12 million birr, deposited at Nib International Bank, be confiscated forthwith. Furthermore, his house in Nifas silk in Lafto Subcity and his two cars are also in the list of properties to be appropriated.

Ayele, who appeared in a weekend snicker pair of shoes and blue black pants in the 11th criminal bench, attended the proceedings from the defendant’s stand looking distressed with the court’s ruling.