Congo Jails Three Chinese Citizens Found With Gold Bars And $400K Cash In Illegal Mining Crackdown

A Congolese court has sentenced three Chinese citizens to seven years in prison after they were arrested in possession of gold bars and $400,000 in cash and found guilty of illegal activities linked to the artisanal mining sector.

“This is an educational trial that should normally serve as a wake-up call to all Chinese nationals who think they can leave China, arrive in Kitutu, Kibe, Lugushwa, Kamituga or Mwenga and behave as if they were in their own room, without even paying the hotel fees,” said Christian Wanduma, a lawyer representing local communities in the trial.

The judge in a court in Bukavu, the capital of eastern South Kivu province, found the defendants guilty on Tuesday of money-laundering, illegal purchase and possession of mineral substances, and other charges.

In addition to the prison sentence, the judge ordered them to pay a fine equivalent to $600,000, and permanently banned them from Congo once their sentences are served.

He acquitted them of charges including fraud and illegal mineral extraction for lack of evidence. The defendants had pleaded guilty to four of the seven charges against them, but said throughout the trial that they had not known they were breaking Congolese law before they were arrested on Jan. 4.