Ethiopia Probes $1bn Corruption Case Involving Labour Market System

October 24, 2026 | By Semahegn Nigatu

Ethiopian federal police have referred a major corruption investigation involving the Ministry of Labour and Skills’ labour market information system to prosecutors, alleging that 13 people were involved in a scheme that generated more than one billion birr through fraudulent certification and related activities.

The investigation concerns the Ethiopian Labour Market Information System (ELMIS) project. Police said they had completed their inquiry and sent the case to the Ministry of Justice’s prosecution office for legal action.

According to the Ethiopian Federal Police statement, the suspects include former project office manager Birhanu Aleka Asgedom, other project employees, owners of employment agencies and additional individuals.

Police allege that the group allowed the system to begin operating without properly verifying its quality and gave administrative access to three people who were not ministry employees and were not known to the institution.

The investigation found that the system was used to issue fraudulent Certificates of Competency (COCs) to 81,236 people who had not received the required education or training, police said.

The alleged scheme involved opening two fraudulent bank accounts through which 1.013 billion birr was collected, according to the statement.

Police said they had also secured the freezing of 249 million birr held in a bank account and traced 965,508 US dollars that had allegedly been converted into cryptocurrency. The dollar-denominated funds were frozen through a court order and transferred to the National Bank of Ethiopia, the statement said.

The investigation also uncovered allegations that suspects received 10.1 million birr in bribes to lift restrictions on employment agencies without requiring them to bring in foreign currency owed to the country.

Police further alleged that 64,500 Ethiopian citizens were sent to Jordan and other Arab countries using fraudulent visa documents, exposing them to serious hardship.

Authorities seized six modern residential properties in Addis Ababa’s Lemi Kura, Bole and Kirkos districts, each reportedly valued at between 55 million and 68 million birr, as well as a V6 vehicle valued at 68 million birr, according to the statement. The properties and vehicle were secured as evidence in the case.

The investigation was conducted in coordination with the Ministry of Justice, the National Intelligence and Security Service, the Information Network Security Administration, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the National Bank of Ethiopia.

Police said investigations were continuing into other individuals and employment agencies suspected of involvement, including agencies alleged to have failed to remit foreign currency owed to the government.

Source: FSX Business News