Inside the Congo Hold-Up: How a Captured Bank Enabled Grand Corruption

Financial institutions serve as the circulatory system of modern economies but, when corrupted, also as the lifeline of illicit wealth. By collating insights from dozens of journalistic reports in the Congo Hold-Up investigation, a new briefing by the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC) and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) examines how BGFIBank in the Democratic Republic of Congowas transformed into an engine of grand corruption. Far from being a rogue operation in isolation, BGFIBank DRC represents a striking case study in how political control over financial institutions not only allows the theft of state resources, but also facilitates the laundering of the proceeds of corruption and crime.

SPEAKERS

Elizabeth David-Barrett, Deputy Director (Research) at GI ACE and Director at CSC, University of Sussex

David Szakonyi, Co-founder of the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC) and Associate Professor of Political Science at George Washington University

Anrike Visser, Independent policy advisor, investigator and founder of Global Ground Consulting

Watch here: https://youtu.be/-OICkBtTjf8