Congo Hold-up: Congo Futur, an empire under sanctions

"Finally Congo Futur Sprl in Kimpese".

The sign is almost completely erased, but it is one of the few vestiges of the existence of a company called Congo Futur in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

© RFI

Text by: Sonia Rolley Follow

26 mins

The Congo Hold-up investigation reveals how the conglomerate Congo Futur and its promoters, the Tajeddine brothers, continued, thanks to the BGFI and other banks, to have access to the international banking system despite being placed under US sanctions in 2010 for laundering Hezbollah money.

They managed to transfer over $ 90 million despite alerts from several compliance departments.

Survey carried out with

,

, NRC and Mediapart under the aegis of the European network EIC.

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" 

 ". The sign is almost completely erased, but it is one of the few vestiges of the existence of a company called Congo Futur in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Whitewashed by the years, it still stands at the junction of one of the roads that link Kimpese, a commercial town in the Kongo Central province, to one of the cement factories for which it is famous. Congo Futur no longer exists. This company, like all those linked to the group of the same name, has been placed under US Treasury sanctions.

In a press release dated September 12, 2010, the Office for the Control of Foreign Assets (OFAC), the financial control body under the Treasury Department which deals with these issues, explains that it targeted "

" which Congo Futur and two of its promoters, Ali Tajeddine and Husayn Tajeddine, for their support for the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement.

A third brother, Kassem Tajeddine had already been under sanctions since 2009.

Congo Futur is "

", then explains OFAC. .

But in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo Futur, it is above all what can be found at the address indicated on the sign announcing the arrival of the conglomerate in Kimpese: a retail store, with painted imported products. , always the same, on the facade.

Just ahead, a heavy truck and Congolese employees unloading goods.

In the province of Kongo Central, there are stores of companies linked to Congo Futur in almost every city.

Their trucks crisscross the national road 1, the main supply route to Kinshasa, the capital and its more than millions of mouths to feed.

An Ecotrans truck in front of an Afri Food store.

© PPLAAF / Mediapart

A real financial weapon, placement on

OFAC's

(

) list prohibits any American entity, or residing in the United States, from doing business with the sanctioned natural or legal person. . Due to the primacy of the dollar in interbank exchanges, the measure is generally synonymous with exclusion from the international financial system, even more so in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where interbank transactions in dollars must pass through an American bank.

In the Congo, sanctions are a fool's game.

Congo Futur now names its chain of stores Afri Food, its road transport company Ecotrans and continues its activities in full view of everyone.

"

", explains the first driver to come.

“

.

"

The Congo Hold-up survey, based on the analysis of millions of BGFI bank documents and transactions obtained by PPLAAF and the French news site Mediapart, reveals the existence of a network of companies, officially independent of Congo. Future, but effectively managed by the same individuals.

These companies were able to thrive with the help of BGFI from 2012 to 2017 and transferred some $ 91 million to accounts in the United Arab Emirates owned by Kassem Tajeddine.

The correspondent banks and some employees of the BGFI had nevertheless given the alert.

Others have, despite everything, missed many transactions such as the Swiss subsidiary of the Lebanese bank BankMed with more than 11 million euros.

Finally, some 7.14 million European grants were paid to a company belonging to the Congo Futur network which, in turn, transferred millions to accounts controlled by Kassem Tajeddine.

Tip # 1: change your name

Originally from Hanawé, in southern Lebanon, a stronghold of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Tajeddine siblings hit the headlines for nearly ten years in Europe and the United States.

The best known, Kassem, the eldest of the siblings, is a regular in the courts.

He was sentenced to two years in prison at the end of 2009 with his wife and three of his brothers by the Court of Appeal in Antwerp, Belgium, for " 

 ".

At the time, he was accused of having set up a double billing system between Congo Futur and one of his companies based in Antwerp which had allowed him to launder more than 50 million euros.

He was released after two months.

In 2017, Kassem Tajeddine was arrested again, this time at Mohammed V airport in Casablanca. He was transferred to the United States and accused by the justice of this country of having reoffended by laundering more than 27 million dollars during illegal transactions with American entities. He pleaded guilty in 2018 to "conspiracy to launder money". He is ordered to pay a fine of $ 50 million and serve a five-year prison term.

Turnaround in July 2020: Kassem Tajeddine is released two years in advance, officially for health reasons. While several media including Reuters link this outcome to a prisoner exchange agreement between Washington and Tehran - including the Lebanese-American and ex-militiaman of the South Lebanon Army, Amer Fakhoury, released a few months earlier by Beirut -, Kassem Tajeddine categorically denies: "

", we read in the letter he sent to the consortium. The businessman has since lived in Lebanon.

In a memorandum sent to American justice in July 2019, Kassem Tajeddine's lawyers describe his “

”

journey 

, the story of a social rise, of a childhood spent in “ 

 ”until entrepreneurial success in Africa. A success that he owes only to his "

 ".

This

really begins with his departure for Sierra Leone in 1976, a year after the start of the Lebanese civil war. Kassem Tajeddine was then 21 years old. He began by working as a simple employee in a relative's grocery store, before opening his own business two years later. In the mid-1980s, he moved to Ivory Coast, then headed for Belgium in 1989 where he set up the headquarters of his companies. Its African activities developed and took off during the following decade.

Created in 1997, the family conglomerate Congo Futur, headed by his brother Ahmed who was convicted in Belgium in 2008 for fraud and money laundering, will be the symbol of this success which will be reflected, among other things, by the very modern Future Tower. , erected on Boulevard du 30 Juin, in the heart of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

If the American sanctions ended up causing the official disappearance of Congo Futur, the nebula Tajeddine found ingenious means to reinvent itself and continue to prosper, with the help of the BGFI DRC.

Each time the name of one of its companies is spotted, it disappears and a new one appears.

Example: a new conglomerate called "Glory Group" is formed by relatives of Ahmed Tajeddine and several companies have established themselves as the real estate company Simmokin, the Société congolaise de construction moderne (SCCM) and the logging company Cotrefor .

Transfer of one million from Glory Group to Sud Oil in 2016 © PPLAAF / Mediapart

The three emblematic companies of Glory Group are controlled, in fact, by the Lebanese Youssef Sleiman, also co-shareholder of another company with the wife of Ahmed Tajeddine, and his partner Abed Hassan Farhat, who was a shareholder of Congo Futur. .

The affiliation with Congo Futur is hardly hidden.

These companies always have the same addresses in Kinshasa, as in the other cities of the Congo.

A simple on-site visit confirms what banks' compliance departments are struggling to establish.

Thus, in the municipality of Limete, the inhabitants do not know the names of the successors of the conglomerate Congo Futur such as Kin Trading, ATCOM or Golden Falcon Company.

On the other hand, as soon as one asks where the plot of Congo Futur is located, the faces light up.

“

”.

Behind the gate, we find the Ecotrans and Cotrefor trucks side by side.

Contacted a month ago, Ahmed Tajeddine, Youssef Sleiman, Abed Hassan Farhat did not respond.

Tip # 2: look for a bank that doesn't look too much

While Kassem Tajeddine complained, in 2019, through his lawyers that the American sanctions had made “

”, the Congo Hold-up documents nevertheless establish that the Belgian-Lebanese businessman managed, with the help of the BGFI, to transfer some $ 91 million to the account of Epsilon Trading FZE, one of his companies in the United Arab Emirates between 2013 and 2017.

This is only part of the funds that will pass through the accounts of companies linked to Congo Futur. Our investigation reveals that at least $ 11 million has been transferred to the account of the

Lebanese

company

Global and Infinite Traders SAL (GAIT) at BankMed Suisse, a subsidiary of BankMed Lebanon, one of the five largest institutions in the country. country, majority controlled by the Hariri family.

Even within the BGFI group, however much criticized for its practices, the alarm bells were sounded very early.

On May 30, 2011, the branch of the BGFI group in Paris rejected “

” four transfer orders totaling $ 810,345 from the Atlantic Trading Company (ATC), a company specializing in the importation of offal and stockings. - cuts of beef in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to GAIT, presented as its main supplier.

 ►

The next day, Stéphane Orliac, from the compliance department, explains why in an e-mail sent to his colleagues in Congo: “ 

"His position is categorical:"

”. The email is sent to the general manager of BGFIBank RDC, Françis Selemani Mtwale, the adoptive brother of former president Joseph Kabila.

Alert email from the compliance department of BGFI Paris.

© PPLAAF / Mediapart

Two days later, it blocks another payment and the BGFI RDC tries to reassure its Parisian partner: "

", Global and Infinite Traders SAL (GAIT) is "

", it even boasts "

 ".

Stéphane Orliac, of the compliance department in Paris, is not satisfied with these explanations and tries to establish links between certain companies that he identifies as dependent on Congo Futur. On June 6, 2011, he had already decided to dismiss a company called Kin Trading, because it is "

". He also quotes GAIT and ensures that he will no longer accept transfers in his favor "

".

The door closes with the branch in Paris. BGFI bankers are turning to other international banks which may be less careful, starting with the German Commerzbank. As proof, a little later, in 2015, she had to pay a fine of 1.45 billion in 2015 to close an investigation into transactions with Iran and other countries targeted by sanctions.

Commerzbank allows several transfers to pass, but ends up spotting the front companies of Congo Futur.

A report from the compliance department of BGFIBank RDC, dated August 2012 and sent to its management, indicates that " 

" .

He mentions two transactions blocked by the German bank.

Contacted, Commerzbank declined to comment on the transactions in question, claiming to have strengthened its controls since 2015, using " 

 ".

The BGFI then turns to the Maltese establishment FIMbank which, in January and April 2013, will request invoices for two transfers between GAIT and one of its clients, Congo Stars For Commerce. Two invoices were indeed produced by the importer. However, neither the amounts nor the date of the invoice or its reference seem to correspond to the transactions carried out. An anomaly that should have alerted the bank's compliance department. FIMbank declined to answer our questions regarding its “ 

 ” for confidentiality reasons. It nevertheless affirms that it maintains "the 

".

But who is behind Global and Infinite Traders SAL, spotted by all the banks?

GAIT is indeed owned by Ovlas Trading SAL, a group controlled by Kassem Tajeddine.

His account at BankMed Suisse received at least $ 11.37 million between May 2011 and April 2015 from the accounts of six companies at BGFIBank-RDC: Congo Stars for Commerce, Atlantic Trading Company (ATCOM), General Trade Company, Congo Quality Industries, Kin Trading and Glory Group.

All are related, directly or indirectly, to Congo Futur.

Contacted about these transfers, Kassem Tajeddine affirmed, in a letter sent by his lawyers, not to be able "to

"

to our questions, "

 ".

Analysis of the accounts of these six companies at the BGFI reveals massive inflows of cash: two of them thus received the equivalent of $ 110 million paid in cash (in dollars or Congolese francs) to the counter of the Congolese bank during the period in which they were in business with GAIT. What are these companies doing? Hard to say, there are very few expenses related to their operation on their account.

When contacted, BankMed Liban and BankMed Suisse refused to confirm or comment in detail, arguing in particular that Swiss law does not allow them to disclose information relating to specific clients. “ 

 ”, specifies in particular the Lebanese parent company in a written answer to questions from Congo Hold-up. " 

 ”, add the two establishments. in their respective responses.

The front of an Afri Food store.

© Sonia Rolley / RFI

Tip # 3: choose a complacent state

If between 2011 - when the transfers began - and 2013, GAIT's affiliation with Ovlas was not immediately apparent, an audit report commissioned by the Congolese government clearly establishes the link from that date.

The audit covers the prices of basic foodstuffs and the “

” to which the DRC is a victim. It is carried out by the MENAA Finance firm on behalf of the Ministry of the Economy. The authors of this report, submitted in 2013, explain that their work "

".

This report details "

" which explain the high cost of living which the Congolese still suffer today: "

", recourse to "

”Or even“ front

”.

He cites Congo Futur as an example and “

” that Global & Infinite Traders SAL (GAIT), along with two other companies (Leaders of Supply and Products and Galaxy Flame Trading), provide 85% of the Congo-based conglomerate's supplies and are owned by Ovlas. Again, nothing is hidden. According to this report, “

” they are one and the same. These three

Lebanese

companies

are "

", "

". Its activity boils down to the management of supplies and the relationship with suppliers.

The link between them is ensured by Imad Hassoun, at the same time shareholder of GAIT, referent of Ovlas Trading and representative of Leaders of Supply and Product.

The man is, moreover, described as the “

 ” of Kassem Tajeddine by the American justice which accuses him, in November 2016, of having helped Congo Futur to restructure its commercial empire.

Imad Hassoun did not answer our questions.

Moreover, still according to the Menaa report, GAIT is integrated not only in Ovlas, but also in Congo Futur, as Imad Hassoun indicates to Menaa listeners.

In the absence of action taken by BankMed Suisse, transfers nevertheless continued until April 2015, sometimes carried out up to four per day for amounts ranging between 50,000 and 385,000 dollars.

The Congolese government is not taking any action either.

Asked by RFI, a minister at the time explained that this report was essentially aimed at propelling Egal, a company created by relatives of Joseph Kabila.

“

”he explains.

"

."

Asked about his role in the Egal scandal, Albert Yuma, who is one of the shareholders of this company, did not follow up.

►

Tip # 4: get funds from a large international organization

A subsidiary of Congo Futur, the Société congolaise de construction moderne (SCCM), was able to receive 7.14 million euros from the European Development Fund (EDF) between 2015 and 2017 as part of public contracts for the improvement of the DRC's judicial, police and naval infrastructure.

Of the 7.14 million euros paid, at least 4.47 million euros passed through SCCM accounts hosted by BGFIBank-RDC.

Payment extract between the EU and the SCCM in 2017. © PPLAAF / Mediapart

When contacted, the SCCM itself explains that the amount of these contracts financed by European funds "would

". "

" she told the Congo Hold-up investigation in writing.

From a purely legal point of view, "

", explains Me Robert Clifton Burns, lawyer from Crowell & Moring in Washington DC, specializing in sanctions issues. “ 

. "

On paper, Congo Futur and SCCM are two very distinct companies, both from a managerial and shareholder point of view.

The SCCM is, in fact, managed by a Lebanese, Abdel Karim Berry, according to the Congolese trade register.

It is 90% owned by a

Lebanese

, Luzerne Commerce Company LCC SAL, and 10% by its manager.

However, the Congo Hold-up investigation reveals that there are strong links between the SCCM and Congo Futur at different levels.

First, because of its location: this construction company is domiciled in the Future Tower, the headquarters of Congo Futur, largely deserted since the American sanctions.

The Future Tower was the headquarters of Congo Futur.

© Imcongo.com

Many other overlaps are possible.

Thus, in e-mail exchanges with the BGFI, a certain Mohammed Ali Chihi signs indifferently as director of the legal department of the Congo Futur group or of the SCCM.

In addition, a number of people employed by the SCCM communicate with the BGFI in order to carry out certain actions (money transfers, currency exchanges, responses to requests for information) using their e-mail address "@ kintrading.com" .

This is the case of Abed Hassan Farhat, both a shareholder of Congo Futur and financial director of Kin Trading, of Ahmed Tajeddine, director and shareholder of Congo Futur, and of Youssef Sleiman, director and shareholder of Glory Group, considered as the successor of Congo Futur.

However, Kin Trading SPRL, as we have seen, was clearly identified in 2011 by several banks as an operational entity of Congo Futur.

Links that the SCCM firmly denies, confining itself to evoking a "commercial relationship in the rules" with Kin Trading SPRL, limited to "

".

She also claims that she does not even know Ahmed Tajeddine.

When contacted, the European Commission explained, for its part, that it did not have "

." ”And that they were“

”. "

" the committee further assures us, " 

. "

While SCCM received European funding, it also transferred millions of dollars from its accounts at BGFI to several companies located in the United Arab Emirates. Among them, one company stands out: Epsilon Trading FZE. The company belongs to Ahmed's brother, Kassem Tajeddine, who is placed on the list of " 

 " of the Office for the Control of Foreign Assets (OFAC).

Congo Hold-up documents show that Epsilon Trading FZE directly received over $ 6.7 million from SCCM accounts at BGFI. Epsilon Trading FZE is all the less unnoticed as Kassem Tajeddine himself admitted to having used the company to launder money and to circumvent the US sanctions in force. He was found guilty by the American courts in this case in 2017 for having deliberately concealed his association with Epsilon Trading FZE, in order to conduct more than $ 27 million in transactions with American companies, thus violating these prohibitions.

Regarding these transfers to Epsilon, the SCCM acknowledges that it is "

" that they took place, "

", while insisting that it was not aware that Epsilon belonged to to Kassem Tajeddine, which she "

".

Tip # 5: make new friends

Félix Tshisekedi, the new president, may well be an ally of the United States, the American sanctions do not seem more respected since 2019. Every year, NGOs, including certain partners of Congo Hold-Up such as The Sentry or the Platform of Protection of African Whistleblowers (PPLAAF), have

of Western sanctions,

the DRC by foreign businessmen, whether Israeli, North Korean or Lebanese.

The revelations do not affect only the BGFI, but other banks such as Afriland First Bank and the Nigerian Access Bank. When contacted, the whistleblower of the latter's subsidiary in the DRC, Israel Kaseya, explains how Congo Futur operated in his bank and his story corresponds point by point to what we find in the Congo Hold-up documents.

« Trois personnes géraient tous les comptes des sociétés liées à Congo futur, dont Abed Hassan Farhat et Youssef Sleiman. Ils établissaient une nouvelle société presque chaque mois. On n’a jamais vu les actionnaires officiels, qui étaient des employés de Congo Futur », explique-t-il à Congo Hold-up. « Et lorsque nous avons dû geler le compte de la SCCM à la suite d'un signalement de notre banque correspondante, ils sont allés jusqu’à ouvrir des comptes fictifs, pour lesquels ils n’ont fourni aucune documentation légale sur leur nature et l’identité des titulaires », poursuit le lanceur d’alerte.

Ces propos sont fermement niés par la SCCM qui indique notamment, dans un courrier à Congo Hold-up, avoir « trouvé d’autres moyens pour recouvrer (ses) droits (et rester) en conformité avec la législation congolaise. »

Access Bank avait déjà démenti ces accusations à RFI. Un haut responsable de cette banque avait expliqué que « les Libanais ont tous les mêmes noms, ça peut prêter à confusion, mais en réalité, il ne s’agit pas des mêmes personnes. » Access Bank RDC avait dit avoir vérifié toutes les allégations, mais n’y trouve aucun fondement. « Nous n’avons jamais eu de comptes liés à Congo Futur. Glory Group avait ses bureaux dans un immeuble lui appartenant, mais la société a même déménagé pour éviter des problèmes », ajoutait encore le haut cadre de la banque.

► À lire aussi :RDC: Israël Kaseya, lanceur d’alerte ou escroc à Access Bank?

Les sociétés héritières de Congo Futur ont encore de beaux jours en République démocratique du Congo. L’un de ses plus gros chantiers immobiliers va enfin voir le jour, idéalement situé au bord du puissant fleuve Congo : les River Twins Tower. Deux tours de 26 étages dont la construction avait été suspendue, car une partie du terrain se trouvait sur le domaine de l’État. C’est Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, alors ministre de la Justice, qui traitait ce dossier à l’époque.

Contacté, l’ancien garde des Sceaux explique que les « promoteurs » ont construit une première tour sur un terrain « appartenant à des privés » et « qui ne donnait lieu à aucune contestation ». Mais ils ont construit la deuxième tour sur un « espace relevant du domaine public de l’État », « sans l’accord des autorités publiques », « d’où le contentieux ». Les travaux étant avancés, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba dit avoir fini par signer un « compromis » et le fait publier au journal officiel « pour assurer que nul ne (le) remettra en cause ».

Ce protocole d’accord, signé le 9 décembre 2016, prévoit que la SCCM « cède à titre d’indemnisation » l'immeuble érigé par elle sur le terrain du domaine public de l'État « qui se fera délivrer le titre de propriété par le seul fait du présent protocole d'accord. » Le nom d’Ahmed Tajeddine figure comme « concessionnaire ordinaire » de la parcelle 4 260.

After the new president Félix Tshisekedi came to power, this agreement was broken… by the Congolese state!

On December 5, 2019, the Minister of Town Planning, Pius Muabilu, defector of the former presidential majority, signed a ministerial decree “

” which repeals “

”.

Contacted, Pius Muabilu did not respond.

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