The story stunned the audience, reports L'Observateur. A 47-year-old bricklayer, Mr. Kama, robbed his own brother, who was suffering from a recurrence of a cervical tumor and had become unable to speak. According to the account in the newspaper owned by Groupe Futurs Médias (GFM), the younger brother took advantage of his older brother's extreme vulnerability to obtain his phone under the pretext of managing calls for support.

Once he had the device in his possession, he hacked into the victim's WhatsApp account and began contacting his relatives, impersonating him. Mimicking the sick man's labored breathing, he managed to extort sums ranging from 100,000 to 950,000 FCFA from several contacts. Taking his scheme further, he also attempted to embezzle a debt of 4 million FCFA owed by a friend of the victim, living in Spain, by pretending to be his ailing brother.

The scam was uncovered when a relative, surprised by the patient's silence after a money transfer, alerted the family. Under the direction of the Keur Massar gendarmerie, the victim's wife lured the suspect with the promise of another 3 million CFA franc payment. Enticed by the prospect, the accused went to the meeting place near the Ecobank branch, close to the Brioche Dorée bakery, where he was caught red-handed.

Given the seriousness of the acts, which the prosecution likened to a veritable "digital robbery" perpetrated against a man weakened by illness, the court sentenced him to one year in prison. The court also ordered the full reimbursement of the extorted sums. During the hearing, the prosecutor denounced the "unspeakable cruelty," emphasizing that the defendant had used his own brother's illness as a tool to extort money, the Gfm headline concludes.