US DOJ Seeks Seizure of Flat Purchased for Daughter of Congo President
US DOJ Seeks Seizure of Flat Purchased for Daughter of Congo President
The move has been praised by anti-corruption activists who have long called for a probe into allegations of corruption involving the presidential family.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated legal action to seize an apartment acquired for Claudia Lemboumba Sassou Nguesso, the daughter of the Congolese President.
The property at issue, which has been identified as United 32G, is located within the Trump Tower. It was purchased for $7.1 million in 2014, according to a forfeiture complaint filed in a New York district court.
The suit alleges that Jose Veiga, a Portuguese businessman representing Sassou-Nguesso, facilitated the transaction by wiring a $710,000 deposit to the seller on 24 June 2014.
He is said to have cleared the outstanding balance a month later with a $6,525,000 transfer. Veiga is described as an intermediary between the Brazilian Asperbras Group and the Nguesso family.
International and local NGOs have accused President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has been in power since 1979, of corruption and embezzlement, depriving the national treasury of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The President’s side denies those accusations.
Congo-Brazzaville was ranked 158 out of 180 countries in the 2023 public corruption study of Transparency International.
In April 2019, the anti-corruption NGO Global Witness urged law enforcement in the US and Europe “to investigate whether the Congolese Presidential family laundered public funds through property purchases in New York.”
Global Witness recommended seizing the apartment, if evidence of misappropriation of public fund was uncovered. It also called for scrutiny of the involvement of Donald Trump and the Trump Organization in the transactions.
While the Trump Organization has not been accused of wrongdoing in the sale, court documents suggest the purchase was part of an embezzlement scheme.
A company called Sebrit Limited, later revealed to be owned by Claudia Sassou Nguesso, allegedly received $19.5 million through a Congolese government contract.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization, which is in charge of managing the building, said that, if the sale occurred, it would have been through an independent third-party that owns a unit within the tower.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF), a US-based nonpartisan organisation, praised the DOJ's action as a step toward holding Sassou Nguesso's family accountable.
In 2022, the French National Financial Prosecutor seized a townhouse belonging to Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso, the president's son, as part of an investigation into financial crimes.
At least five members of the Nguesso family have been under investigation since 2017.