Cameroonian businessman Kingsley Tazinya sentenced to 20 months in US prison over Covid-19 loan fraud
Cameroonian businessman Kingsley Tazinya, also known as “Don Pacto”, has been sentenced to 20 months in a US federal prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud linked to a Covid-19 relief loan.
Tazinya, 40, is an entrepreneur residing in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The sentence was handed down in September 2026 and will be followed by three years of supervised release.
The case dates back to May 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when Tazinya submitted a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application to MidFirst Bank.
According to details of the case, he falsely claimed that his business had 13 employees and an average monthly payroll of more than $99,000. Based on the information provided in the application, he obtained $249,600 in PPP funds, equivalent to approximately FCFA142.7 million.
The PPP was established by the US government to provide financial assistance to businesses affected by the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including support for payroll expenses.
In addition to the prison sentence, the US court ordered Tazinya to pay $564,500, approximately FCFA322.8 million, in restitution. He will also remain under supervised release for three years after completing his prison term.
The case has attracted attention in Cameroon because of Tazinya’s profile in social and business circles, where he is known by the name “Don Pacto”.
He has also gained public attention through his relationship with Audrey Monkam, who was crowned Miss Cameroon 2020.
The case involving Tazinya is separate from another recent US Covid-19 relief fraud case involving a Cameroonian national from Alaska. In that case, an individual was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison after being convicted of three counts of wire fraud following a three-day jury trial.
US authorities said that individual had submitted at least five fraudulent applications for PPP and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds between April 2020 and October 2021, using a fictitious sole proprietorship with no business operations, revenue or employees. The court ordered him to pay $182,225.15 in restitution after he fraudulently obtained more than $172,000.
The two cases are separate, but both involve allegations of fraud linked to emergency financial assistance programmes introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
By Lasha Kingsly