Resource Matters calls for an end to impunity over missing Gécamines funds

Kinshasa, November 1, 2023 – Resource Matters urges the Court of Auditors and the judiciary to expand their investigation so that all those involved in the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars in Gécamines’ tax advances are held accountable.

Resource Matters commends the Court of Auditors for bringing back to the public agenda the disappearance of Gécamines’ funds in the form of tax advances — notably the alleged embezzlement of US $25.5 million by Mr. Albert Yuma, former Chairman of Gécamines, and Mr. Deogratias Mutombo, former Governor of the Central Bank of Congo, among others. Resource Matters encourages the judiciary to widen the investigation beyond these specific allegations, as the US $25 million under scrutiny represents only one-fifth of the total missing tax advances.

According to an investigation by Resource Matters in collaboration with the Congo Hold-Up consortium, Gécamines paid more than US $530 million into Central Bank of Congo accounts between 2012 and 2020. According to the parties involved, these were tax advances — payments of taxes before they were due to the State. However, according to the Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF), the majority of these funds were never transferred (“leveled”) to the Public Treasury.

Instead, documents reviewed by Resource Matters show that some tax advances were directly transferred to private companies. US $8 million was even withdrawn in cash over the counter at BGFIBank. Private companies that benefited include Sud Oil (a shell company), which received US $15 million, and TEXICO (allegedly owned by Albert Yuma and Norbert Nkulu), which received US $5 million.

The Court of Auditors is now seeking to shed light on US $25.5 million, including US $15 million from Gécamines and US $10.5 million from the Public Treasury. Meanwhile, former finance ministers instructed tax authorities to act as if these amounts had indeed been transferred to the Treasury. Specifically, they ordered the three revenue agencies to issue “titles” acknowledging receipt of the tax advances (“securitization”), even though the funds never reached the Treasury. As a result, the DGI acknowledged “receiving” over US $340 million, the DGRAD over US $121 million, and the DGDA over US $60 million. Yet, during an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative workshop, representatives of all three agencies confirmed that they had never seen these funds.

Resource Matters once again denounces these illegal practices of systematic securitization and offsetting by the revenue agencies, based solely on a letter from the Minister of Finance and without any proof that the funds were actually received by the Treasury.

We commend the Inspectorate General of Finance for instructing all revenue agencies to suspend such compensations, as they are prohibited by law and because more than US $315 million remains untraceable: there is no evidence that these amounts were ever received by the State.

Resource Matters urges the Court of Auditors, currently investigating the case, along with the IGF and the courts, to relentlessly pursue all those involved in the embezzlement of these tax advances, which deprive the Congolese State and Gécamines of the resources needed to revive its operations.

We call for a public and widely covered trial to ensure that the truth comes to light and to deter such acts, which hinder the country’s development.

Contact: info@resourcematters.org