Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso, the son of Republic of Congo’s President, apparently stole over $50 million from the Congolese treasury to fund his luxurious lifestyle. The money was funneled through six European countries, the US and the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Global Witness reveals today in a new investigation. A key role was played by José Veiga, a controversial businessman who is the target of a Portuguese probe into corruption and money laundering in Congo. Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso and Veiga set up an apparent money laundering scheme using secrecy jurisdictions, shell companies and a sham public works contract to hide the source of the funds...

“Our investigations into the Sassou-Nguesso siblings provide compelling evidence of how they embezzled over $70 million from state coffers,” said Mariana Abreu, Campaigner at Global Witness. “The Sassou-Nguessos are notorious for enjoying a lavish lifestyle. Given the relatively low salaries for public officials in Congo, it is highly likely that funds for this extravagant spending came, at least in part, from stolen state funds that should instead have been spent improving the lives of Congolese citizens.”

This grand-scale corruption has a devastating human impact. “While the Congolese Presidential family seemingly loot millions of dollars of state funds, a third of Congo’s population lives below the poverty line.” said Abreu.

“This scheme bears all the hallmarks of money laundering. All of the jurisdictions involved urgently need to address the ways in which shell companies can move funds around at ease, facing no tough questions on provenance or legitimacy despite multiple corruption warning signs.”