Bereket Simon’s arrest over embezzlement charges
Bereket Simon is one of the founding members of Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and served as Minister for Ethiopian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. He was the right-hand man to the late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and known for his unwavering defenses of any questionable governmental actions in the former reign. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia for seven years before he was removed from his position. His resigned from his position as chair of the Ethiopian Economic Research Institute in October 2017 following House Speaker Abadula Gemeda.
He was also a founding member of Amharic National Democratic Movement (ANDM). His’ membership was suspended on August 2018 along with TIRET Corporation CEO Tadesse Kassa (also known as Tadesse Tinkishu). The party passed the decision on Ato Bereket and Ato Tadesse after analyzing their intentions conflict with Amhara people interest and suspicions of corruption related to TIRET Corporation.

Bereket Simon and Tadesse Kassa were arrested from their homes earlier today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the charges of misappropriation of funds in TIRET Corporation. Ato Zegale Gebeyehu, Head of Amhara Regional State Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission, gave a press release on the arrest. According to Ato Zegale, the suspects are in temporary detention centers in Bahir Dar, Amhara region for the trial. He also explained that the investigation took longer due to the extended business firms owned by TIRET and auditing all the finances of the seventeen active firms was no piece of cake.