- According to the recent revelations by The Sentry, an investigative and policy team that follows the dirty money connected to African leaders, former President Kabila’s family embezzled public funds and parked millions of dollars in real estate in the US and South Africa.
- The reports are based on leaked bank records obtained by the Platform to Protect Whistle-blowers in Africa (PPLAAF)
- The leaked bank statements, emails, contracts, bills, and corporate records show that the Kabila family used multiple tools to embezzle public funds, including a bank and a maze of companies all under their control.
According to the recent revelations by The Sentry, an investigative and policy team that follows the dirty money connected to African leaders, former President Kabila’s family embezzled public funds and parked millions of dollars in real estate in the US and South Africa. The revelations were published in ”Congo-Hold-up’’, the first in a series of investigative reports by an international consortium of non-profit organizations and media outlets.
The reports are based on leaked bank records obtained by the Platform to Protect Whistle-blowers in Africa (PPLAAF) and the French news group Media part and shared with The Sentry. Speaking about the charges against the former DRC President, Michelle Kendler-Kretsch, Investigator at The Sentry, said that leaked bank statements, emails, contracts, bills, and corporate records show that the Kabila family used multiple tools to embezzle public funds, including a bank and a maze of companies all under their control. This document offers an unparalleled view of how the secret machinery was used to plunder Congolese public funds. John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry was of the view that the corrupt perpetrators, their accomplices, and international enablers should be tried without any delay for looting the state.
The Sentry’s investigation reveals how the former President’s brother, Selemani’s nine-year tenure in a senior management position at BGFIBank DRC gave the Kabila family and their allies access to a financial institution that was used to launder the proceeds of corruption and buy real estate in the US. The Sentry urged revoking of the exemption for real estate professionals in the US anti-money laundering framework without delay.
The investigations published provide a glimpse of how one of the world’s poorest countries was looted systematically. It also provides valuable insights to governments, law enforcement agencies, and financial institutions with the evidence needed to take preventive measures. It called for prompt prosecutions, sanctions, asset seizures, hefty fines, and an overhaul of several countries’ anti-money laundering regimes.
