Ebola money pilfered

Police accuse him of having siphoned off a total of $4.3 million made available by the treasury to fight Ebola.

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — Detained former DR Congo health minister Oly Ilunga has been accused of embezzling $4.3 million of public funds raised to tackle the Ebola epidemic, his defense counsel said Sunday while insisting on his innocence.

“Police accuse him of having siphoned off a total of $4.3 million made available by the treasury to fight Ebola,” lawyers Guy Kabeya and Willy Ngashi said in a statement.

Ilunga, who resigned as health minister in July after being removed as head of the country’s Ebola response team, was arrested Saturday in Kinshasa.

Police have alleged he was planning to flee the country and escape justice, something his lawyers denied.