Congo Hold-up: la plus importante fuite de documents bancaires d’Afrique

Congo Hold-up. C’est le nom d’une nouvelle enquête collaborative explosive qui documente d’importants détournements de fonds publics en République démocratique du Congo. Parmi les principaux responsables présumés figurent l’ancien président Joseph Kabila et son premier cercle. Fruit du travail de 19 médias partenaires associés au consortium européen EIC et de cinq ONG spécialisées, elle est basée sur l’analyse de millions de documents bancaires et transactions qui ont fuité d’une banque africaine : la BGFI.

Forte de 3,5 millions de documents bancaires et davantage encore de transactions, l’enquête Congo Hold-up se nourrit de ce qui est, à ce jour, la plus importante fuite en provenance du continent africain. Elle révèle comment une banque commerciale, la BGFI, a été utilisée pour piller des fonds publics et des ressources naturelles de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC).

Elle révèle, pour la première fois, les noms de ceux qui auraient participé de façon massive à ce détournement des richesses d’un pays parmi les pauvres au monde. En RDC, aujourd’hui, plus de 70% de la population vit avec moins de deux dollars par jour.

Une « kleptocratie » autour de Joseph Kabila

Congo Hold-up pointe, parmi les principaux responsables présumés de ces détournements, des membres de la famille de l’ancien président Joseph Kabila (2001-2013) et certains de ses associés les plus proches. Entre 2013 et 2018, ils ont pu mettre la main, avec la complicité de la BGFI, sur au moins 138 millions de dollars des caisses de l’État. C’est l’équivalent de 250 000 années de salaire moyen en RDC.

On découvre également que plus de 100 millions de dollars supplémentaires ont été crédités sur les comptes des membres du premier cercle de l’ancien chef d’État sans que l’origine de ces fonds ait pu être déterminée. Trente-trois millions de dollars ont été déposés en liquide, et 72 millions proviennent du compte de la BGFI à la Banque centrale du Congo (BCC).

Siège de la BGFIBank à Kinshasa. © PPLAAF

La BGFIBank RDC est considérée comme la banque des Kabila. En 2010, à l’ouverture de cette filiale d’une grande banque africaine, la petite sœur de Joseph Kabila, Gloria Mteyu, se voit offrir 40% des parts. En 2013, c’est le frère adoptif de celui qui est alors président, Francis Selemani Mtwale, qui prend les rênes de la banque. Il devient directeur général et les détournements s’intensifient.

L’histoire du groupe BGFI est marquée par des scandales de corruption et de blanchiment d’argent impliquant des autocrates africains et des entreprises européennes. Cette banque, au passé sulfureux lié à l’affaire des « biens mal acquis », a déjà été épinglée à la suite des fuites de documents dont la plus importante jusqu’ici était en 2016 les « Lumumba Papers ». On la doit à Jean-Jacques Lumumba, cadre de la BGFIBank RDC et petit-neveu du héros de l’indépendance congolaise, Patrice Emery Lumumba.

« Congo Hold-up, c’est la fuite la plus importante de documents sensibles du continent africain », explique Henri Thulliez, directeur de la Plateforme de protection des lanceurs d’alerte en Afrique (PPLAAF) qui a obtenu ces documents avec le site d’information français Mediapart. « L’enquête expose dans le détail les ruses utilisées par une banque et ses clients pour tenter de dissimuler une corruption systémique. Ces transactions bancaires, emails, dossiers d’entreprises, constituent le véritable mode d’emploi d’une kleptocratie. »

Des millions de documents et transactions pour preuves

Avec plus de 3,5 millions de documents internes de la BGFI, ainsi que des millions de transactions couvrant une période d’environ dix ans, Congo Hold-up offre une plongée sans précédent dans une « kleptocratie » qui prospère en RDC et dont les ramifications s’étendent sur les cinq continents.

De comptes bancaires en virements, cette enquête nous permet (parfois) de suivre cette fuite de capitaux publics ou de fonds douteux vers certaines sociétés ou jusqu’aux poches de plusieurs individus. Elle montre aussi que des centaines de millions de dollars disparaissent en liquide et sur les comptes des sociétés écrans, basées dans des paradis fiscaux et dans des places financières opaques.

Ces millions de documents internes permettent de donner du sens à des transactions dont l’objet est souvent de cacher l’origine de ces flux financiers. Ils attestent des différentes techniques employées pour blanchir ces fonds et nous les décrirons dans les prochaines semaines : prête-noms, faux libellés, factures douteuses, swift falsifiés, opérations de change couvrant des détournements, pratiques de type Hawala. Leur analyse a été complétée de nombreux témoignages et un intense travail sur le terrain qui a commencé, pour certains des partenaires, il y a plus d’une dizaine d’années. C’est le croisement de toutes ces données qui a permis, aujourd’hui, de mettre en lumière tous ces mécanismes et d’identifier nominativement ceux qui les ont mis en œuvre.

L’histoire de Congo Hold-up n’est pas qu’une histoire congolaise. La BGFIBank RDC a attiré tous ceux qui cherchaient à influencer le président de l’époque et notamment les entreprises d’État chinoises impliquées dans des projets miniers de grande envergure en RDC.

Cette enquête permet de désigner des politiciens congolais de tous bords et des hommes d’affaires, le plus souvent étrangers, qui se sont enrichis sur le dos d’un État faible. Elle dévoile aussi l’existence de réseaux suspectés de blanchir des fonds illicites, voire de financer des personnalités et groupes sous sanctions internationales comme le Hezbollah. La BGFI leur a servi de plate-forme pour accéder au système bancaire international.

Une enquête d’intérêt public qui réunit journalistes et chercheurs

L’enquête Congo Hold-up met une nouvelle fois au jour les faiblesses du système bancaire congolais. Des faiblesses qui ne se limitent pas à la BGFI. Pendant ces dix années, la Banque centrale du Congo n’a pas joué son rôle de régulateur. Elle a plutôt favorisé la fraude et les détournements. Il aura fallu aussi des complicités au sein même des institutions congolaises, à chaque étape de décaissements et de passations de marchés publics. Les organes de contrôle étatiques et des cabinets d’audit ont échoué à révéler l’ampleur de cette fuite de capitaux publics et à les endiguer. Les services de conformité de banques correspondantes ont mis des semaines ou parfois même des mois à bloquer ces flux d’argents douteux.

Au vu du nombre colossal de données à analyser, cette enquête d’intérêt public a conduit à une alliance sans précédent entre journalistes et chercheurs. Pendant neuf mois, le réseau de médias European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) et ses 19 médias partenaires dont Radio France Internationale (RFI) ont collaboré avec un groupe de cinq ONG spécialisées sur la RDC ou les enquêtes économiques (PPLAAF, The Sentry, GEC, Resources Matters, Public Eye).

Des centaines de personnalités et entreprises ont été contactées pour être confrontées à ce travail et répondre aux faits établis et aux allégations soulevées par cette enquête. Des dizaines de réponses ont été apportées, mais les principaux responsables présumés mis en cause dans ces détournements de fonds publics, dont l’ancien chef de l’État, des membres de sa famille et certains de ses associés, n’ont pas donné suite à nos questions.

Les partenaires ont effectué ensemble ces recherches et vérifications d’informations sur les documents de Congo Hold-up. Mais ils publieront de manière indépendante au cours des prochaines semaines leurs articles et rapports.

Sources: RFI

Liste des médias partenaires : le réseau EIC (https://eic.network/), RFI, Mediapart, De Standaard, Le Soir, NRC, Der Spiegel, InfoLibre, Politiken, Expresso, VG, Nacional, RCIJ, Bloomberg, L’Orient le Jour, BBC Africa Eye, KvF, The Namibian, The Continent, The Wire.

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