Congolese Demand Compensation in U.K. Corruption Probe

KINSHASA(Capital Markets in  Africa): A group of Democratic Republic of Congo citizens asked the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office to recognize them as victims in its investigation of alleged corruption by Kazakh mining company Eurasian Natural Resources Corp.

The 16 Congolese say they lost jobs, health care, and community development projects when a copper and cobalt tailings project was shut down near Kolwezi, southeastern Congo, in 2009, according to a statement by Rights and Accountability in Development, 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 organization, African Resources Watch, helped organize the group of potential victims. Rights and Accountability in Development 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 U.K.’s Compensation Principles, which require law enforcement agencies to identify overseas victims in corruption cases and seek compensation for them.

A spokesman for ENRC didn’t immediately comment when contacted by email. In an email on Wednesday, an SFO spokeswoman said the fraud office would not comment on an ongoing investigation. ENRC sued the U.K. agency last year, claiming it colluded with the firm’s own lawyers to manufacture grounds for a probe — an allegation both parties deny.

Source: Bloomberg Business News