The Malian Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is at the centre of a major financial scandal after an audit by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) uncovered more than 100 million CFA francs in mismanaged and unaccounted funds, sparking calls for legal action against embassy officials.
The audit, which examined the embassy’s financial operations from 2022 through March 2025, assessed personnel and operating costs, student scholarships, chancery revenues, tax stamp sales, and funds transferred by the Treasury’s General Pay Office. The findings revealed widespread administrative failures and serious financial irregularities.
Investigators reported that the embassy failed to respect the basic principle of separating the roles of authorising officer and accountant.
Accounting records and stock inventories were not properly maintained, mandatory details were missing from expenditure documents, and collected chancery revenues were neither documented with official revenue orders nor transferred to the Public Treasury.
The OAG recommended that the ambassador immediately enforce proper financial procedures, ensure revenue collection is documented and transferred to the Treasury, and require the Secretary Accounting Agent to keep proper books, codify and register equipment, and regularise all chancery revenues.
Financially, the audit uncovered irregularities amounting to 114,561,505 CFA francs. While 11,152,786 CFA francs were recovered during the audit, a staggering 103,408,719 CFA francs remain unaccounted for. The discrepancies include:
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47,898,825 CFA francs in social security contributions withheld for local staff but not remitted to the Treasury.
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22,639,949 CFA francs in undue benefits paid to diplomatic staff.
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596,104 CFA francs in unjustified fixed overtime for local employees.
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9,699,297 CFA francs in double-counted expenses.
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11,432,971 CFA francs in unjustified payments.
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11,141,573 CFA francs for dubious vehicle maintenance costs.
The report concluded these actions constitute violations of criminal and financial law.
The Auditor General has referred the case to the President of the Accounts Section of the Supreme Court and the Public Prosecutor at the National Economic and Financial Crimes Division.
The revelations paint a picture of systematic mismanagement, with embassy officials accused of prioritising personal gain through illicit allowances, fuel vouchers, and questionable contracts.
As legal proceedings loom, embassy officials are reportedly “sleeping with one eye open,” awaiting potential prosecutions over what auditors describe as one of the worst cases of financial delinquency in Mali’s diplomatic corps.
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