An internal investigation by the Congolese Central Bank revealed, more than a year ago, embezzlement at its branch in Lubumbashi. Billions of Congolese francs would have been diverted there then ...

DRC: low hand on "improper banknotes" of the Central Bank

The provincial directorate of the Congolese Central Bank in Lubumbashi in the DRC.

Denise Maheho / RFI

Text by: Sonia Rolley Follow

11 min

An internal investigation by the Congolese Central Bank revealed, more than a year ago, embezzlement at its branch in Lubumbashi.

Billions of Congolese francs would have been diverted there when they were to be destroyed or reinjected into the banking system.

RFI was able to consult this file so far remained confidential.

Publicity

“

I have nothing to do with these stories.

IT specialist Kayembe Kimembe remains vague and says as little as possible.

He knows he is being hunted, in the hot seat.

He struggles to justify himself in front of the investigator who questions him on the second floor of the pretty building of the provincial directorate of the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) in Lubumbashi, capital of the rich mining province of Haut-Katanga (South East).

Responsible for the IT office, he was, on this Friday, July 12, 2019, questioned for the second time by auditors from the headquarters in Kinshasa, the capital, in the context of an incredible case of the alleged theft of bags filled with banknotes of francs used Congolese normally intended to be perforated and then crushed.

But then, billions have been put aside, discreetly or almost.

This is what emerges from dozens of pages of hearings and other internal documents to which Radio France Internationale has had access.

The technician is accused of having suspended the video surveillance system in the grinding room on the first day of operations, May 14, 2019.

Cameras not all off

On this July weekend eve, Kayembe Kimembe knows he risks big: dismissal or even prison.

During the first interrogation, which took place a month earlier, this employee who had been stationed for nearly eight years in Lubumbashi had assured, without tacking, that he did not know how to use the video surveillance equipment installed on the bank's premises to avoid fraud.

The computer scientist did not quite lie.

He finally admitted to having received the order to interrupt the signal just before the delivery of the first bags of Congolese franc banknotes unfit for circulation.

Except that he did not understand how to do it and that he did not take care of the cameras positioned outside the room.

They filmed him during these various calls, like other compromising scenes, and their images constitute the evidence put forward by the BCC investigators.

This case has been buried
"

Interrogations are carried out smoothly between June and October 2019 in Lubumbashi and Kinshasa.

Nearly twenty employees, from the simple security guard to the provincial director, are called upon to explain themselves and almost all of them have played a role or rules.

Surprisingly, this painstaking work has not resulted in any dismissals or convictions.

Asked about this, a senior executive of the BCC initially denied, assuring that if there had been evidence, the agents would have been sanctioned, before asserting that the case was "

before justice

" and that the main officials had "

left the bank and fled

For other agents

", their cases are still "

in progress

" at the disciplinary committee of the bank a year after the end of the fact-finding mission carried out by Kinshasa.

All are there, still at their posts, there is no trace of procedure at the level of justice, this case has been buried

", deplores Me Timothé Mbuya, president of Justicia Asbl, one of the organizations for the defense of rights. of the most active men in Lubumbashi.

“

It is all the more serious as it is almost red-handed with CCTV cameras.

Until the RFI investigation, civil society knew nothing about this affair.

For Mr. Mbuya, we must “

publicize

” this type of case to avoid any risk of corruption of the judicial system and to see the culprits slip away.

An institution under surveillance

This file is particularly embarrassing as it raises the question of the

control of the money supply

by the Central Bank, despite the procedures and security systems put in place to limit fraud.

Several sources, including within the Bank of Banks, suggest that this practice could be more than an isolated act.

However, if a not insignificant proportion of Congolese francs classified as unfit are kept in circulation, this could have an impact on the price of the Congolese franc,

which has continued to depreciate

for two years.

“

Last year, there were several alerts, not just in Lubumbashi,

” explains a former employee of the BCC.

“

It has been done since Mobutu's time, but above all today, impunity is consecrated, everyone places their parents here who are there to collect resources.
And the result is the skill level that you saw in the internal audit file.

This unprecedented leak also occurs in a context where the Central Bank is the subject of a lot of attention.

The

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

demands transparency efforts, but also reforms, while the Congolese head of state, Félix Tshisekedi, has pledged to fight against embezzlement and has placed the BCC suspected of being under surveillance. 'be acquired from its predecessor.

According to RFI information, several denunciations were made to the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) which reports directly to the Presidency of the Republic.

For several weeks now, its inspectors have been monitoring each of its BCC operations.

Located in the heart of the pretty city of Lubumbashi, behind imposing gates, the building housing the local branch of the BCC, delivered just 3 years ago, is riddled with CCTV cameras.

The investigators dispatched from Kinshasa realize it very quickly, they are not at the end of their surprises.

In these images, we see in particular the computer scientist Kayembe Kimembe being guided by a "

friend

", who does not work at the BCC, on the use of video surveillance software.

We see you from

9:11

receiving a '

video'

call

with a man appearing on your phone screen

," begins the investigator.

“

Are you aware that Article 139 of the Staff Regulations provides for the penalty of dismissal with notice in the event of a deliberate violation of professional secrecy?

He continues.

I have not read all the articles

", is satisfied to answer the technician more and more embarrassed.

Missing

packages

" during the seven days of operations

The one who asks Kayembe Kimembe to turn off the cameras is Nyemabu Lukinda, the head of the counting workshop in the treasury department of the BCC.

He himself admits to the headquarters fact-finding mission having already "

received a request for an explanation following the lack of funds received at Kasumbalesa

[border post with Zambia]

in 2011

The case was then closed "without continuation".

This time, as the auditors are about to complete their investigation, on October 7, 2019, they say they have "

all the evidence today that Mr. Nyemabu had called Mr. Kayembe for this purpose

", can we read in one of the documents to which RFI had access.

Bundles of Congolese franc banknotes on a woman's bag, in Kinshasa, in July 2016. Sonia Rolley / RFI

After viewing the videos from the other cameras, these investigators from Kinshasa quickly think they have understood why.

On May 14, 2019, there is a discrepancy between the number of “

packages brought to the shredding room

” and the name of “

packages declared on the daily information sheet on the shredding of unsuitable banknotes

”.

This phenomenon is repeated on May 15, 16, 21, 22, 23 and 24.

With each arrival, there are two, three, four or even five bags less than what is officially recorded.

There is, however, more than one signature on the files and minutes, at least that of the head of the grinding room, main cashier, head of the administrative service and provincial director.

All are responsible for supervising these operations, but over the course of the interviews, confronted with the images, they are discarded on top of each other.

This is particularly the case with the head of the grinding room, Ntumba Mujanayi.

By continuing the images given by the camera n ° 35 of the corridor, we showed Mr. Ntumba Mujanayi that there were only 14 packages out of the 18 that he said he had crushed

", we can read in one of his audition reports.

On October 3, 2019, the latter ensures that he is not responsible for these discrepancies: “

Regarding the cards, it came from my boss, the main cashier and I signed.

At least a million dollars turned into bad bills

The main cashier, Tshibangu Kabala, also denies everything.

His name is however mentioned more than once.

The investigation team noted in the Navision management software an operation dated May 8, 2019 to convert nearly 2.5 billion Congolese francs (more than one million dollars) "

from banknotes suitable for consumption into banknotes unfit for the same amount

”.

The agent who assures to have done it on order, Ilunga Nsungu Nyota, cash manager, explains to the auditors of the BCC not to have understood "

only now the inconvenience

" of having executed it.

It was a few days before the start of shredding operations and the disappearance of packages of banknotes classified unfit for consumption.

Worse, Tshibangu Kabala and his colleague from the counting workshop also keep "

several dozen bags of money

" in an "

unsecured room with several key holders

" instead of a "

strong room with an armored door.

The two accomplices would have justified it to their subordinates by the lack of space in the safe.

Everyone cites the "

controller

" as present, but it is almost absent in the image.

Michel Assani Mika was recruited by the BCC in 1989. He was appointed

ad interim

administrative manager

of the provincial direction just before the seven days of grinding in May, but he would not have received "

the instruction

" to attend. than for the last three days.

For the other four, he declares to have signed

a posteriori

minutes

“

for regularization

”.

I cannot refuse the orders of the main cashier who announces that the request for signature of these documents is on order of the provincial director

", explains Michel Assani Mika during his hearing on June 21, 2019. "

Do you know that your behavior is gross negligence causing damage to the bank?

», Retorts one of the investigators.

The BCC agent replies: "

I was waiting for someone to signal me

The provincial director also auditioned

The provincial director is also auditioned.

Sangwa Mulobelwa refused for nearly a month to receive the Kinshasa fact-finding mission.

He demanded a copy of all the surveillance videos which were going to be opposed to him, evoking a provision of the statute of the agents which would give him the right.

There is eel under the rock,

" he says to listeners by way of a preamble, he brandishes photos sent by Whatsapp of perforated tickets, ensuring that all the cuts in packages for the month of May had been.

Sangwa Mulobelwa was present at the start of the grinding operations when the first irregularities were noticed, he has not appeared in the image since, but he signed all the daily logs.

He takes refuge behind his employees, presenting himself as the “

last to sign

”.

“

It will be astonishing that you ask the provincial director to count the number of briquettes per bag during a crushing process,

” he explains without getting disassembled.

As for the interruption of the CCTV cameras in this highly sensitive room, the senior executive of the BCC replied without batting an eyelid: “

You are the one telling me that, I am not aware of anything.
Why not tell me during more than a month's stay to tell me about it today?

DRC: low hand on "improper banknotes" of the Central Bank

DRC: low hand on "improper banknotes" of the Central Bank

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