Niger police have arrested a former prime minister, who is an ally of ousted president Mamadou Tandja.
Authorities are accusing Seini Oumarou of embezzling more than $500,000 of public money.
Mr. Oumarou's two years as prime minister ended last February when a military coup ousted Mr. Tandja after he sought to change the constitution to stay in office longer.
The military junta that took power has vowed to clean up corruption.
Mr. Tandja has sought leniency from the ruling junta because of his poor health, but his fate is unclear.
Police have taken three other former Tandja officials into custody.
Some information for this report was provided by Bloomberg and Reuters.
