Former Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue professor René Wamkeue was recently arrested for allegedly extorting and defrauding international graduate students. La Presse reports that Wamkeue—who worked at UQAT between 2010 and 2017—was fired in 2018 after the university discovered irregularities in the support he provided to students. Commissaire à la lutte contre la corruption spokesperson Mathieu Galarneau explained that during Wamkeue’s UQAT employment, he allegedly used schemes to obtain scholarship funds intended for international master’s and doctoral students under his supervision. The Commissaire revealed to Radio-Canada that the estimated fraud amount is around $30K. Wamkeue was released on the condition that he appear in court in February, where he will face charges of fraud, extortion, and secret commissions.
