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| - Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler on Monday provided a glimpse into his operations in DR Congo where he allegedly made a fortune on buying and selling mining assets during the rule of ex-president Joseph Kabila. Gertler is the target of US sanctions over graft allegations after booking multi-million profits on deals revealed in the "Panama Papers" in 2016. Washington accuses him of having helped to cost the DRC a loss of more than $1.36 billion in revenue between 2010 and 2012 through the underpricing of mining assets sold to offshore companies linked to him. The International Monetary Fund recently called on Kinshasa to be fully transparent with its mining contracts in exchange for access any new aid programme. Cue a video address by Gertler to journalists in Kinshasa in which the 46-year-old boasted of an $83 million investment in Metalkol, a mining project in the southern province of Katanga. "Early next year, dividends from this mine will start being distributed. It's the first time that you, brothers and sisters, are going to profit from the riches of this country," insisted Gertler, whose wealth Forbes puts at 1.2 billion. He did not spell out the mechanism for sharing Metalkol's profits with ordinary Congolese, but he encouraged other mining firms to follow his example, urging them to "share with your brothers and sisters of the DRC. It's their copper, their cobalt, as well as the taxes you pay." The event had been billed as a personal appearance by Getler, but he only appeared in the video. DR Congo is one of the world's main producers of valuable minerals such as copper, gold, coltan and cassiterite. But the country of 84 million is one of the world's poorest and is wracked by political violence. In July, two NGOs accused Gertler of circumventing US sanctions via an international money laundering network using shell companies. Global Witness and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) alleged that Gertler and associates had opened bank accounts in a Congolese subsidiary of Cameroon-based Afriland First Bank for moving around millions of dollars worth of transactions. Afriland officials have responded by taking legal action against the NGOs saying that documents being used in the investigation were stolen and had been tampered with. The officials also alleged violation of banking secrets. st/bmb/cdw/gd
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