Congolese demand compensation in UK corruption investigation
KINSHASA – A group of Democratic Republic of Congo citizens asked the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to recognise them as victims in its investigation of alleged corruption by Kazakh mining company Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC).
The 16 Congolese say they lost jobs, healthcare and community development projects when a copper and cobalt tailings project was shut down near Kolwezi, south-eastern Congo, in 2009, according to a statement by Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), a London-based anti-corruption group.
The company has been under investigation by the SFO since 2013 regarding its acquisition of mining assets, including several mines in Congo. ENRC, which acquired the project in 2010, has denied any wrongdoing. After the probe opened, the firm’s owners formed a new company called Eurasian Resources Group that now operates the Congolese mines.
RAID and the Congolese organisation, African Resources Watch, helped organise the group of potential victims. RAID said in the statement on Tuesday that they had identified more than 32 000 Congolese who could also qualify for compensation, if the company is found guilty.
The Congolese could qualify as victims under the UK’s Compensation Principles, which require law enforcement agencies to identify overseas victims in corruption cases and seek compensation for them.
A spokesperson for ENRC didn’t immediately comment when contacted by email, while the fraud office didn’t respond to an email requesting comment. The company sued the UK agency last year, claiming it colluded with the firm’s own lawyers to manufacture grounds for a probe – an allegation both parties deny.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation