A mansion located in Neuilly-sur-Seine and attributed to Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso, minister and son of the president of Congo-Brazzaville, was seized in an investigation on suspicion of “ill-gotten gains” in France, indicated the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) Friday 9 September. “A private mansion acquired by Mr. Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso was seized in this case in June”confirmed to AFP the PNF after information from Mediapart. “Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso is not indicted to date”said the PNF.
The building, purchased in 2009 for 5.2 million euros and renovated for 5.4 million euros, is ” without contest “ inhabited by Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso and his family, according to a criminal order dated June 20, cited by Mediapart. One of the holders of the real estate civil society (SCI) which owns the building is the head of protocol and “one of the screens” of the Congolese Minister, discovered the Central Office for the Suppression of Serious Financial Crime (OCRGDF), in charge of investigations, details Mediapart.
“A political file”
“I am scandalized that France, with its past as a great slave and colonial power, is now seeking responsibilities from African leaders”reacted to AFP Jean-Jacques Neuer, Mr. Sassou-Nguesso’s lawyer. “Many very ill-gotten gains are in the hands of France and belong to Africans”, he added. The investigation into “ill-gotten gains”, which Mr.e Neuer did not want to comment, is “a political and non-judicial file”according to him.
Following an NGO complaint in 2007, anti-corruption judges in Paris are looking into suspicions of embezzlement of public funds that enabled the Sassou-Nguesso family and the Bongo family, which rules Gabon, to acquire a considerable heritage in France. The name of Denis Christel, known as “Kiki the tanker”, is mentioned several times in this file, in particular for his “exceptional lifestyle”according to a 2019 PNF document.
“The amount of assets seized, of course, is only the very modest side of an ocean of misappropriations, but Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso is a leading player in it.considers William Bourdon, lawyer for Transparency International. Faced with the accumulated evidence, his denials are pathetic and insulting to the judges and to France. » At least five members of the Sassou-Nguesso family have been prosecuted since 2017 in this case.
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