Belgium Sends Semlex to Trial Over Congo Passport Fees
DR CONGO · CORRUPTION
Key Facts
- —The company Semlex, a Brussels firm that printed biometric passports for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- —The allegation That passport fees were inflated and the difference went offshore.
- —How it worked The price of a Congolese passport roughly doubled to US$185. Civil parties say US$60 of each one went to a company in Dubai.
- —The total About US$60 million over a decade, on the civil parties’ estimate.
- —What just happened A Brussels court sent Semlex and 13 others to stand trial on 31 August.
- —When the trial starts Unknown. No date has been set.
For a decade, Congolese citizens paid one of the highest passport prices in the world. A Brussels court has now decided that fourteen defendants must explain where the money went.
A Belgian court has ordered Semlex and thirteen other defendants to stand trial over the Congolese passport contract. The investigation began at an airport nine years ago.
What the Court Decided
On 31 August, the Brussels council chamber referred Semlex and thirteen co-defendants to the city’s criminal court.
That is a committal, not the opening of a trial. It means a judge has found the case strong enough to be heard.
The charges are bribery of foreign public officials, money laundering and tax fraud. They relate to Congolese biometric passport production between 2015 and 2025.
Reuters, which reported the referral, could not establish when the trial will begin. No date exists.
The Passport That Cost US$185
The mechanism at the centre of the case is simple enough to explain in a sentence.
The price of a Congolese passport roughly doubled, to US$185. Of that, civil parties allege US$60 per passport went to LRPS Ltd, a company registered in Dubai.
Reuters reported in 2017 that LRPS was linked to a relative or close associate of Joseph Kabila, then president of Congo.
Over a decade, the civil parties put the total diverted at around US$60 million.
That figure is their estimate. No court has made a finding on it.
Who Is Involved
Semlex was founded and is led by Albert Karaziwan, a Belgian businessman whose company has supplied identity documents across Africa.
The identities of the thirteen co-defendants have not been disclosed. Congolese reporting describes them as Semlex executives and figures close to the Kabila-era presidency.
Entities named in that reporting include Semlex itself, its Congolese subsidiary Locosem, and LRPS.
Semlex has previously said it is the target of a smear campaign. The allegations are unproven.
How It Started
The case began with money. In 2016, suspicious funds were found at Brussels Airport.
The investigation that followed has run for what campaigners call nearly nine years.
In May 2020, fifty-one Congolese citizens joined the proceedings as civil parties. They are supported by FIDH, the Belgian League for Human Rights, Transparency International and its Belgian chapter.
The Congolese state itself is not among the civil parties.
Why Belgium Is on Trial Too
Transparency International Belgium and FIDH call it a first. No Belgian company has had to answer in court before for bribing foreign public officials.
Belgium has been criticised repeatedly by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development for weak enforcement of foreign bribery law.
That is why the case carries weight beyond the passports. It is a test of whether Belgian courts will prosecute Belgian companies for what they do abroad.
Congo and Belgium have a particular history. A Brussels courtroom weighing what Congolese citizens paid for their own passports sits inside it.
The trial date is the thing to watch. A committal without a hearing date can sit for a long time.
More: Africa news and analysis, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Semlex?
A Brussels-based biometric identity document company, founded and led by Albert Karaziwan.
What is it accused of?
Bribery of foreign public officials, money laundering and tax fraud over Congolese passport production from 2015 to 2025.
How much money is involved?
About US$60 million, on the civil parties’ estimate, from roughly US$60 of each US$185 passport fee.
Has the trial started?
No. A Brussels court referred 14 defendants to trial on 31 August 2026 and no date has been set.
Who brought the civil claim?
Fifty-one Congolese citizens, supported by FIDH, Transparency International and other organisations. Not the Congolese state.
Why is the case significant?
Campaigners say it is the first time a Belgian company has faced court over bribing foreign officials.
Sources: Reuters, FIDH, Transparency International Belgium, Congo Quotidien.
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