A self-styled marabout, or traditional spiritual healer, who collected €33,500 after promising to secure Mali’s victory at the Africa Cup of Nations has been arrested for fraud following the team’s elimination.
Mali’s national side was knocked out of the tournament on Friday after a 1–0 quarter-final defeat to Senegal. The man, identified only as Mr Sinayogo, reportedly received over 22 million CFA francs in donations, according to one of his associates. After Mali’s loss, an angry crowd gathered at his residence, prompting police to step in and remove him for his safety.He was arrested on Saturday in Bamako and is currently being held by the cybercrime unit on fraud-related charges, two videographers who visited him confirmed.
An official from the unit told AFP that “charlatanism is punishable by law in Mali,” adding that taking action earlier would have been difficult while the tournament was still ongoing due to the public excitement surrounding the competition.
Sinayogo, who was previously known as a political activist, reportedly reinvented himself as a marabout overnight and quickly made large sums of money, according to a social media content creator familiar with his activities.
