ICIJ/Will Fitzgibbon: U.S. Obtains Swiss Bank Records For Congo Corruption Probe

ICIJ   
Investigations
    >
    Paradise Papers ▾
    Journalists
    Blog
    Data
    About

January 26, 2018
Reading time
2 minutes
Reporting by
Will Fitzgibbon
Israeli diamond dealer Dan Gertler at Katanga Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
i
Getty Images
MINING CONNECTIONS
U.S. Obtains Swiss Bank Records For Congo Corruption Probe

A Swiss court has confirmed ongoing criminal investigations into the businesses of Dan Gertler, an Israeli diamond dealer suspected of large-scale corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court released on Friday a 13-page judgment that details how the United States has sought information, including banking records, about Gertler’s business since 2012.

Gertler’s companies appealed a Swiss decision to provide information to the United States. The court rejected the appeal and published its decision.

U.S. authorities claim to have evidence that shows bribes paid to high-level DRC officials in exchange for mining rights and government benefits, according to the judgment. The bribes involved cash and in-kind bribes such as luxury items and “extravagant personal holidays” given to at least three officials, who were not identified in keeping with Swiss legal practices.

A Gertler lawyer representing the companies that appealed the decision confirmed to ICIJ’s media partner, Tages Anzeiger, that the United States has made three requests for information. Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has also sought information, the lawyer added.

“The Americans will not find any illegal activity committed by Mr. Gertler,” said his lawyer, Marc Bonnant. Gertler has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Related articles

    Paradise Papers Research Raises Questions Over Glencore’s $440m Congo Discount
    How did Glencore manage to get a $440m discount – the equivalent to a year’s education budget – in the Congo?
    Offshore Trove Exposes Piggy Banks of the Wealthiest
    Room Of Secrets Reveals Glencore's Mysteries

The decision reveals a long-standing back-and-forth between U.S. and Swiss authorities that first began with an American request for information in December 2012. Requests continued until May 2017 when Swiss authorities granted the United States access to bank information that spans October 2010 to April 2016.

Swiss authorities confirmed to Tages Anzeiger that U.S. authorities requested information concerning Gertler and others. The authorities have already provided some evidence to the U.S., authorities said.
Paradise Papers connection

In November, ICIJ and media partners reported on leaked files from the offshore law firm Appleby that revealed how Gertler had helped secure lucrative mining rights for a company now owned by the world’s largest commodities trader, Glencore.

In December, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned Gertler and more than a dozen companies for “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals” in the DRC.

Glencore’s chairman told ICIJ media partners during the company’s 2017 annual meeting that its background checks on Gertler were “extensive and thorough.”

In response to earlier questions from ICIJ, Glencore said that the price for the mining licenses was agreed to before Gertler entered the negotiations and that a $45 million loan to the company controlled by Gertler while he helped Glencore strike a deal for the mine with DRC officials was “made on commercial terms” with standard provisions in place.
Related topics:

    Africa Appleby Europe Glencore Mining Offshore secrecy

Sign up for emails from the ICIJ
Subscribe to our email newsletter and be the first to know about our ground-breaking investigations and multimedia.

Spread the word
Help us continue our work
We depend on the generous support of readers like you to help us expose corruption and hold the powerful to account.
Donate now
Read more
Inside Paradise Papers
More data than ever before added to the Offshore Leaks Database
February 12, 2018 — New data from the Paradise Papers will allow you to explore more information on companies registered in the Cook Islands, Samoa and Malta.
Inside Paradise Papers
Roll Up, Roll Up: Asiaciti’s U.S. Marketing Tour
February 14, 2018 — A city-by-city travelogue shows the offshore specialist marketing trusts to American clients anticipating or in trouble with the law.
Inside Paradise Papers
‘Africa’s Satellite’ Avoided Millions Using A Very African Tax Scheme
February 20, 2018 — The companies behind the New Dawn Satellite channeled millions of dollars through offshore companies in Mauritius, one of the continent’s premier tax havens.
The ICIJ is dedicated to ensuring all reports we publish are accurate. If you believe you have found an inaccuracy let us know.
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
910 17th Street NW Suite 410
Washington DC 20006 USA
contact@icij.org
About us

    Our team
    ICIJ members
    Media partners
    Our supporters

Investigations

    The Panama Papers
    Secrecy For Sale
    Evicted and Abandoned
    Fatal Extraction

Follow us

    Facebook
    LinkedIn
    Twitter
    Sign-up

© 2017 — The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. All rights reserved.
Built by