A Madrid court on Friday sentenced former International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato to more than four years in prison for tax crimes, money laundering and corruption.

Judges found Rato who was also a former economy minister in Spain, guilty of “three offences against the treasury, one offence of money laundering and one offence of corruption between individuals,” the court announced in a statement.

A Paris court on Thursday sentenced the brother of France midfielder, Paul Pogba, to a three-year prison term, with two years suspended, after convicting him in a high-profile extortion case.

Mathias Pogba will be able to serve his one-year sentence with an electronic bracelet rather than behind bars.

The court also fined Pogba’s brother 20,000 euros for participating in the attempted extortion of 13 million euros ($13.5 million) from Pogba in 2022, and for putting pressure on the player, his family and his business contacts to obtain the payment.

The Kano and Jigawa command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says its operatives have seized 2,179 kg of pangolin scales.

A statement on Tuesday by Saidu Nuruddeen, the command’s public relations officer, said a joint operation with the federal operations unit (FOU) zone D and Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) led to the seizure of the animal’s scales in the Mubi area of Adamawa.

Nuruddeen noted that the command also arrested one suspect in the Mubi area of Adamawa state during the operation.

He said the seizure underscores the command’s commitment to fighting illegal wildlife trade and protecting Nigeria’s biodiversity.

“The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Kano/Jigawa Command, in a joint enforcement operation with the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) under the leadership of comptroller Dauda Ibrahim Chana, made another significant breakthrough in combating wildlife trafficking on the 5th of December 2024,” the statement reads.

“The WJC provided actionable intelligence, supported the investigation with their expertise, and followed up with the NCS enforcement operation.

“A trained customs enforcement team led by Kano/Jigawa command successfully intercepted and effected the arrest and seizure from two warehouses in Mubi.”

The customs spokesperson said NCS and WJC had seized 21,582 kg of pangolin scales since their partnership, noting that this was the third major seizure in 2024.

He noted that 11,673.2 kg had been seized in 2024 alone, with 4,473.2 kg of pangolin scales confiscated by the command.

Nuruddeen added the perpetrators would be prosecuted accordingly, noting that the service will ensure further clampdown on illegal wildlife trade.