While the vast majority of Congo’s population suffers from a lack of basic services, the state has sold off valuable mining assets at suspiciously low prices, losing the Congolese treasury hundreds of millions of dollars in crucial revenue in the process. This money has instead gone to a handful of anonymous companies, whose real owners are hidden under layers of paper companies, located in an offshore tax haven in the British Overseas Territories. The secrecy of the offshore business world which facilitated these deals allows corrupt politicians and businessmen and women to launder money, dodge taxes and strike suspect deals while keeping their identities secret...This exploitation of Congo’s natural resources reached a peak around Congo’s presidential elections five years ago; it is particularly relevant today as Congo is due to go to the polls again in November 2016...Now in 2016, Kabila is reported to be seeking a way to stay in power despite being obliged by the constitution to step down at the end of his second mandate in December 2016. As elections loom, Global Witness has seen evidence of mining deals being struck without public announcement, with no clarity on where the cash is going. History appears to be repeating itself, with Congo’s valuable natural resources at risk of being stolen to fund an election campaign instead of the basic services that the country’s population needs so urgently...Mr Gertler vigorously disputes the various charges levelled against him, saying that all the offshore companies in the Fleurette Group, his holding company, are ultimately owned by a trust held for the benefit of family members of Mr Gertler. His spokesman has also argued that he did not obtain assets at knock-down values. Glencore and ENRC also deny any wrongdoing.