This is another setback for the US investment fund Och-Ziff. Its African subsidiary, OZ africa, was ordered by the US justice to pay $ 135 million to former shareholders. By 2016, Och-Ziff had already been ordered to pay the U.S. Treasury Department nearly half a billion dollars for corruption, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This time, this belief relates in particular to a mining project, the Kalukundi mine. For the first time, the name of Dan Gertler, the Israeli friend and businessman of former President Kabila, is mentioned in this dossier. For the platform, Congo is not for sale (CNPAV), which brings together Congolese and foreign NGOs, this ruling is a step forward, but it especially wants to see the Congolese state get involved.
A very important condemnation
Jean-Claude Mputu is a spokesman for this campaign: “This condemnation is very important for Congolese civil society because it will somehow confirm what we already knew that the corrupt practices of mining companies in the Congo happen through intermediaries and involve directly high political figures. In this specific case, Gertler’s name is cited as the most important instrument for this corruption. This is important because, finally, a judgment clearly states in addition to the political sanctions against Gertler and all the work done by national and international NGOs regarding the corrupt practices of these gentlemen. “
“Government does not intervene to demand justice”
As for the Congolese, but still victims of these acts of corruption and not compensated, Jean-Claude Mputu regrets the situation: “No Congolese victim was involved. The Congolese state has not come forward to claim its rights. It is the investors and their friends, corrupt or not, who are benefiting from Congo’s wealth, and not the Congolese people, who have been handed over to their sad fate, and the government is not intervening to demand justice for its people ”.
Read also: Businessman Dan Gertler involved in the DRC: a complaint has been filed (lawyer)
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