CameroonOnline.ORG | Bafoussam is in shock. Once a thriving hub of commerce and opportunity, the city is now engulfed in a scandal of staggering proportions—one so immense it defies belief, as reported by 237online.com.
At the heart of it all is TCHOUATEU LAURENT BLAISE, the enigmatic owner of Yatch Center, a supermarket that once stood as a beacon of success. Now, he is gone—vanished without a trace on February 17, leaving behind not just an empty chair, but a financial catastrophe of staggering proportions.
His three abandoned phones, found untouched, tell a chilling story of premeditation. This was not the desperate escape of a man caught off guard. It was the calculated disappearance of someone who had long been planning his exit, watching as the walls of deception he built threatened to crumble around him.
A Legacy of Illusions
For years, Blaise cultivated the image of a shrewd entrepreneur, a businessman whose empire seemed impervious to the hardships that befell others. He surrounded himself with the trappings of wealth—luxury cars, extravagant parties, and a lifestyle that hinted at inexhaustible riches.
Yet, to those who looked a little closer, the cracks in his empire were glaring. Employees whispered about unpaid salaries. Suppliers grew impatient. The air of stability was an illusion, held together by carefully crafted deception.
One local merchant, who had watched Blaise’s rise from the shadows, now speaks of his suspicions.
“Something always felt off. He flaunted money, yet his employees barely scraped by. There were always rumors, but no one could have imagined this.”
Now, those rumors have solidified into undeniable truths.
The Collapse of a House of Cards
As the days pass, the magnitude of Blaise’s betrayal becomes clear. The web of deceit he spun was far-reaching, ensnaring unsuspecting victims who had trusted him with their savings, their investments, their futures.
Among the worst affected is a former Regional Delegate of Public Health, swindled out of 40 million FCFA—a sum so immense that its loss feels more like fiction than reality. But he is not alone.
? Eight tontines (rotating savings groups) have been bled dry, their funds siphoned into the void.
? Seven guarantors, bound by the rules of trust, now find themselves drowning in a sea of unpaid debts.
? Four individuals unknowingly became pawns in a game they never agreed to play, enrolled in fraudulent contribution systems.
? Local microfinance institutions, already fragile, teeter on the edge of collapse due to Blaise’s unpaid loans.
? Even BICEC, one of the country’s major commercial banks, has initiated proceedings to seize the fugitive’s family home in a desperate bid to recover losses.
The scope of the fraud is mind-boggling. It is not merely a case of one man’s downfall, but a financial earthquake whose aftershocks are being felt across entire communities.
Voices of Betrayal: The Employees Speak Out
Beyond the figures and the statistics, there are human lives—men and women who worked tirelessly under Blaise’s rule, now left with nothing but memories of mistreatment.
Flore Djoumbissie, a former employee, speaks through clenched teeth, her voice laced with the bitterness of betrayal.
“He nearly sent me to prison. If not for my family, I do not know what would have happened to me. He is a ruthless, sadistic man.”
Her story is not unique.
Another employee, pregnant at the time, was almost jailed due to Blaise’s shady dealings. If not for a lawyer’s intervention, she might have given birth behind bars.
Others recount months of toiling without pay, trapped in a cycle of exploitation that seemed endless—until now. The fall of Yatch Center has given them the courage to speak, to demand justice, to ensure that Blaise does not simply vanish into the shadows unpunished.
The Hunt Begins
As the anger of the people grows, so too does the urgency for action. Where is Blaise? Did he flee abroad? Is he hiding in plain sight? The authorities remain tight-lipped, but murmurs of an impending investigation grow louder.
For those left behind, the goal is clear—to see justice served, to reclaim what has been stolen, to expose the full scale of the fraud.
But Blaise has already proven himself a man of careful calculations. He has played this game before, and if history is any indication, he will not be caught easily.
A City Awaits Justice
For now, Bafoussam watches, waits, and wonders.
Will the fugitive businessman ever be found? Will those who lost everything see even a fraction of their money returned?
Only time will tell. But one thing is certain—this story is far from over.