A former holding company linked to Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler has agreed to pay $30 billion to settle a corruption investigation in the Netherlands involving mining deals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dutch prosecutors say the Netherlands-registered company Fleurette Group was investigated for its role in securing copper and cobalt mining rights in the resource-rich country at prices far below market value. The probe began in 2018 and focused on whether bribes were paid to Congolese officials during the acquisition of the licenses.
Investigators found that tens of millions of dollars were allegedly paid to an adviser to former Congolese president Joseph Kabila, who governed the country from 2001 to 2019 and has long been seen as a close associate of Gertler. In a statement, the Dutch prosecutor’s office said it concluded that Fleurette, “together with others, was guilty of foreign public official bribery in the DRC in the framework of the acquisition of mining licenses.” The investigation also examined transactions involving multinational commodities giant Glencore, which had previously partnered with Gertler in several Congolese mining ventures.
Gertler has been under sanctions from the United States Department of the Treasury since 2017 over allegations of corruption in Congolese mining deals claim he has repeatedly denied. The settlement marks one of the largest corruption payouts linked to African mining operations and highlights long-standing concerns about transparency in the DRC’s lucrative copper and cobalt sector, which supplies key materials used in global battery and electric vehicle industries.
