On August 31, the Brussels Council Chamber referred 14 defendants in the Semlex case to the Criminal Court. They will now face allegations of corruption of foreign public officials, money laundering, and tax fraud in connection with the contract for the production of Congolese biometric passports. What is known in DRC as the “Semlex affair” stems from a contract signed in 2015 between the Congolese state and Semlex, a Belgian company specialising in secure identity documents.
The case quickly became controversial, notably because of the high price of the passport, set at $185. Investigations subsequently uncovered alleged financial circuits involving Semlex, intermediaries, and LRPS Ltd, a Dubai-based company described in several investigations as being linked to a person close to former President Joseph Kabila.
