Israeli billionaire's firm settles DR Congo graft probe for $30 million

A former holding company of United States-sanctioned Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler is paying $30 billion to settle a Dutch corruption investigation over mining deals in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Netherlands-registered firm, Fleurette, has been under investigation since 2018. Investigations have been looking at whether Fleurette, which served as the holding company for the Gertler group, and commodities group Glencore paid bribes for copper and cobalt mining rights at below market prices.

It is thought that tens of millions of U.S. dollars were paid to an advisor of ex president Joseph Kabila. Kabila, who is a close friend of Gertler, led the country from 2001-2019.

In a statement, the Dutch prosecutor’s office said it ‘concluded that Fleurette, together with others, was guilty of foreign public official bribery in the DRC in the framework of the acquisition of mining licenses’.