A Netherlands-registered company that previously held mining interests for Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler will pay €25.8 million ($30 million) to resolve a Dutch corruption probe related to mining deals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The settlement brings to a close a long-running investigation into whether Fleurette, once linked to Gertler’s business empire, obtained valuable Congolese mining licenses through bribery.
The DRC is one of the world’s richest sources of copper and cobalt, minerals critical for batteries used in electric vehicles and other technologies.
Dutch authorities launched the probe in 2018 to determine whether Fleurette and Swiss commodities firm Glencore bribed officials to acquire mining rights at prices well below market value.
Investigators suspected that tens of millions of dollars were paid to a senior adviser to former Congolese President Joseph Kabila, who governed from 2001 to 2019 and had close ties to Gertler.
In a statement, the Dutch public prosecutor’s office said the €25.8 million fine, imposed on March 6, establishes that Fleurette, acting in concert with others, was guilty of bribing foreign officials in the DRC to secure mining licenses.
Earlier, Dutch authorities had ended their investigation into Glencore, which had partnered with Gertler in several Congolese ventures, after the Swiss company paid a fine in a separate Swiss corruption case.
Lawyers for Fleurette confirmed the settlement closes the Dutch investigation and that authorities will not pursue charges against Gertler personally.
The company also stated it had “paid a settlement of EUR25.8 million to the Dutch authorities, as required by the penal order,” noting that the agreement concludes “an eight-year investigation into historic matters dating back to 2010, without charge against any individuals or other entities.”
Gertler has been a major player in the DRC’s mining sector for nearly two decades, facilitating some of the country’s largest resource transactions, which have drawn international scrutiny.
The United States sanctioned Gertler in 2017, accusing him of using opaque mining deals to deprive the Congolese government of roughly $1.4 billion in revenue. Some sanctions were briefly lifted at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency but reinstated in March 2021.
In 2022, the Congolese government reached an out-of-court settlement with Gertler, regaining control of disputed mining and oil assets valued at over $2 billion.
Gertler’s dealings in Congo attracted worldwide attention after the release of the Panama Papers in 2016, which exposed offshore networks used by wealthy individuals globally.
Gertler has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his business operations in the DRC.