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| Congo - President Denis Sassou-Nguesso |
About
A former military leader, Denis Sassou-Nguesso has spent more than half of his life as president of the Republic of Congo. He served first from 1979 to 1992, when he was ousted after the country’s first multiparty elections. He seized power in 1997 after a bloody civil war and has remained the country’s leader. He presides over a repressive government, and the use of torture by police is well-documented. Sassou-Nguesso and members of his family have been investigated in France and the U.S. amid accusations of human rights abuses and corruption, including the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the oil-rich country. The family denies the allegations.
Political Career
- President of the Republic of Congo (1997 - present)
Leaked Details in the Pandora Papers
Sassou-Nguesso owned a company that controlled diamond mines that are among the country’s most valuable assets. His ownership of that company, Inter African Investment Ltd., was not previously known.
Documents from ICIJ’s Pandora and Panama Papers investigation provide a look at a corporate structure designed to shield Sassou-Nguesso’s involvement.
Inter African Investment was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in 1998, during Sassou-Nguesso’s second term as president. It kept an account with the London branch of Banque Espirito Santo and owned another BVI company, Ecoplan Finance Ltd. One of Sassou-Nguesso’s daughters, Julienne, served on Ecoplan’s board of directors. Alcogal listed the company as inactive in a 2018 database.
Ecoplan owned the majority of shares in Escom Congo, a construction and real estate firm that holds the rights to diamond mines in the country.
Sassou-Nguesso, through his spokesperson, did not respond to ICIJ’s repeated requests for comment.
Secrecy Broker
At the heart of the Pandora Papers are 14 offshore firms that help clients establish companies in secrecy jurisdictions. This profile draws on leaked data from these providers:
1. Alcogal
Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee, or Alcogal, is a go-to offshore provider for top politicians and elites in Latin America and beyond. Founded in Panama, the firm has ties to nearly half of all the politicians whose names appear in the Pandora Papers leak. Here are some of the top political figures involved.
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