Financial scandal plagues former Dem. Rep. of Congo President Joseph Kabila

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - Transactions marked by corruption, money laundering and other crimes ignored during the regime of Joseph Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), were invested in American real estate, a US-based investigative organization reported Friday.

"During a period of political instability, Francis Selemani, the brother of former DRC President Joseph Kabila, gradually channeled increasing amounts of money into real estate investments abroad, particularly in the United States," according to the report published by The Sentry.

It reveals how the family and allies of the man who ruled the central African country between 2001 and 2019 were able to use a financial institution to launder the proceeds from corruption in partnership with private companies.

The information damning Selemani concerns the purchase of 17 luxury properties for more than $6 million in the affluent suburbs of the US capitol and in South Africa, apparently using at least part of the funds diverted from the Congolese government.

"Selemani and the Kabila family used a network of companies and the bank they controlled to divert public funds to move millions of dollars out of the country to buy real estate," said the report.

The former president's brother allegedly circumvented real estate lending standards and transferred millions of dollars involving "an obscure company called Sud Oil."

That company subsequently transferred more than $12 million to accounts managed by Selemani, The Sentry reported.

Collaborative investigations by The Sentry, and members of the Congo Hold-up, media outlets and an NGO consortium show that “Sud Oil received at least $85 million in funds from a range of Congolese government institutions, including the Central Bank of Congo, the DRC's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York, the Congolese state-owned company Gecamines and the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI)," said the report.

It also identifies a series of irregularities, misrepresentations and inconsistencies indicative of a risk of money laundering and other financial crimes in transactions related to bank accounts held by Selemani and his companies.

"Funds received from public institutions lacked justification and the funding sources for some transfers were distorted," it said.

Michelle Kendler-Kretsch, an investigator with The Sentry, said it is "the most blatant indication to date of the powerful tools the Kabila family had at their disposal to divert public funds, including a bank and a maze of companies, all under their control."

- $138 million from state coffers

The Sentry’s co-founder John Prendergast said: "The world has rarely had such a clear and comprehensive view of the ways in which a state can be captured-thefts of public money, backroom deals and shell companies, and every missed opportunity to stop this chain of illicit transactions."

He recommended that corrupt actors, accomplices and international facilitators be brought to justice without delay.

Other media outlets that are part of the Congo Hold-up consortium also published the results of their investigations Friday.

"This historic robbery would probably have remained unknown without the largest leak of sensitive data in Africa: 3.5 million confidential documents from the Banque Gabonaise et Française Internationale (BGFI)" directed by the Kabila clan, according to Mediapart.

French media indicated that in five years the Kabila family and associates embezzled at least $138 million from the state coffers via the bank.

A former advisor in the former administration, who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity, said: "The duty of reserve" prevents him from commenting.

The government did not respond to a request by the Turkish news agency seeking comment.