Global Witness - Breaking the links between natural resources, conflict and corruption
Congo: Is President’s son paying for designer shopping sprees with country’s oil money?
Press Release – 26/06/2007
The son of the president of Republic of Congo appears to have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of money that may derive from sales of state oil on lavish designer shopping sprees in Paris, Marbella and Dubai, while Congo remains one of the poorest and most indebted countries in the world. While 70% of Congolese citizens earn less than a dollar a day, in August 2006 alone, Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso, son of Congo’s President and head of Cotrade, the marketing branch of the state oil company SNPC, spent $35,000 on purchases from designers such as Louis Vuitton and Roberto Cavalli.
For more information on this case and the role of financial institutions in facilitating such activities, see chapter 5 of our 2009 report, Undue Diligence: How banks do business with corrupt regimes.
Download the full press release
Download the full press release in French
Watch Al Jazeera documentary from September 2009, featuring Global Witness
See key documents below
Credit Card Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso
denis_christel_sassou_nguesso_credit_card_bill.pdf
payments_for_dcsns_credit_card_bill.pdf
Credit Card Blaise Elenga
elenga_blaise_credit_card_bill.pdf
payments_for_blaise_elengas_credit_card_bill.pdf
EIL
consulting_agreement...beach_and_elenga.pdf
elenga_investments_beneficial_ownership.pdf
Long Beach
long_beach_beneficial_ownership.pdf
Pan Africa
ollivier_affidavit.15may07.pdf
ollivier_affidavit.27may07.pdf
pan_africa_documents.pdf
Payments to EIL
Payments to Long Beach
aogc_long_beach.pdf
bill_of_lading_genmar_spartiate.17jan05.pdf
bill_of_lading_tanabe.21mar05.pdf
payments_to_long_beach_referencing_oil_cargoes.pdf
Read More
High Court Blocks Bid by Congo Leader's Son
Downloads
Credit Card Blaise Elenga Credit Card Blaise Elenga Credit Card Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso Credit Card Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso EIL EIL Long Beach Pan Africa Pan Africa Pan Africa Payments to EIL Payments to Long Beach Payments to Long Beach Payments to Long Beach Payments to Long Beach Press release
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