A US financial company has filed a lawsuit in the United States against the Democratic Republic of Congo and several senior officials, alleging attempted corruption, according to a document seen by AFP on Wednesday.
The society Payservices, based in Idaho, says it was invited in late 2023 to create a joint venture to "revitalize the public bank of the DRC and digitize and modernize the entire national economy".
The company says it has accepted the agreement and invested more than $72 million in technologies and services, as part of a contract requiring the Congolese state to pay $20 million "within two weeks".
Subsequently, "several corrupt officials in the DRC" — acting "unbeknownst to the president of the DRC" — allegedly conspired to demand bribes from PayServices, according to the document. Among the people cited are the minister of Public Enterprises, the minister of Finance and the governor of the Central Bank.
Close collaborators of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, including his chief of staff, are also mentioned. When their demands were refused, the "individual defendants then conspired to sabotage and violate the contract and terminate" to the project, says the company.
PayServices is seeking $20 million in damages as well as reimbursement for its investment.
The Ministry of Public Enterprises rejected the accusations in a statement, calling them "devoid of any legal, budgetary or accounting basis". He accuses the company of wrongly presenting itself as a bank when it does not have the "legal status of banking establishment".
"In this context, the authorities... have put an end to all administrative monitoring of this file in order to protect the Public Treasury", the ministry said.
In its complaint, PayServices also claims to have obtained "a direct meeting" last May with Félix Tshisekedi, who would have said "shocked to learn of these blockages".
