Human Rights First, Sassoufit Collective, and Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights Seek U.S. and Canadian Sanctions on Congolese President’s Son, Daughter for Embezzlement, Laundering into United States
Washington, D.C. – Three organizations that fight for the rule of law – Human Rights First, the Sassoufit Collective, and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights – today submitted a dossier to the U.S. and Canadian governments recommending targeted sanctions against two of the adult children of Denis Sassou Nguesso, president of the Republic of Congo, based on their alleged roles in embezzling funds from the Congolese people and laundering them into U.S. real estate. Such sanctions, which are required by U.S. law and consistent with Canadian law, would support the fight against corruption.
“For years, the Sassou Nguesso family’s selfishness has left the Congolese people impoverished and oppressed,” said Andréa Ngombet, founder and executive director of the Sassoufit Collective. “Right now, the Congolese people cannot get justice at home to stop these crimes. The least that other countries can do is ensure that they do not enable them. The sanctions we call for would be a modest but welcome step toward accountability and justice.”
According to investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, Claudia Sassou Nguesso allegedly used sham companies to embezzle public money intended for the building of hospitals, then used that money to purchase an apartment in New York City; while her brother Denis-Christel abused his position in a state-owned oil company to embezzle large sums that he used to buy a luxury condo in Miami. Based on its findings, the Justice Department has brought two civil suits seeking the seizure of those apartments. The suit against Claudia was announced in 2024 and is still under way, while Denis-Christel agreed to the forfeiture of his property in 2022. Civil society groups also documented these corrupt schemes.
“The fight against corruption is imperative for protecting the integrity of markets and defending human rights, both at home and abroad,” said Uzra Zeya, president and CEO of Human Rights First. “Congress has made it clear that it expects the executive branch to bar corrupt foreign officials from entering the country when it has evidence of their corruption, and the proof of the Sassou Nguesso kleptocracy couldn’t be clearer. The State Department must act.”
The Justice Department’s continued pursuit of these forfeiture cases is a welcome if surprising step, given the Trump administration’s general abandonment of an anti-corruption agenda. But under the State Department’s Section 7031(c) visa-ban program for kleptocrats and human rights violators, the evidence turned up in these investigations should also trigger a mandatory ban on the two Sassou Nguesso siblings’ ability to enter the United States. This additional step would move past simply taking stolen funds away from the perpetrators and help prevent further crimes, by blocking their entry and imposing a lasting stigma to warn off companies and others who might work with them.
U.S. congressional leaders have called attention to corruption in the Republic of Congo. In a 2022 statement, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jim Risch called the Congolese government “one of Africa’s most corrupt and oppressive regimes” and called for “greater attention to the role kleptocracy plays in undermining democracy worldwide.” With Congo’s next election approaching in March, not nearly enough has been done to that end.
Several countries have recently acted on evidence of corrupt acts in their jurisdictions that were tied to the first family of the Republic of the Congo, where Sassou Nguesso’s decades of rule have featured rampant corruption, repression, and human rights abuse. Most recently, authorities in Norway last month charged two Norwegian businessmen with bribing Sassou Nguesso for oil concessions.
Canadian institutions have also been seized with some of the Sassou Nguesso family’s corrupt acts and are well placed to respond to others. A Canadian court denied permanent residency to Wilfrid Nguesso, another son of the president, due to his involvement in “misappropriation of funds, tax evasion and money laundering.” In turn, the embezzlement schemes allegedly perpetrated by Claudia and Denis-Christel make the two siblings eligible for sanctions under Canada’s Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act.
“Sanctions are most effective when countries act together,” said Gila Cotler, CEO of the Montreal-based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. “Coordinated action closes loopholes and sends a clear message that corruption and human rights abuses will not be tolerated. Whether alongside our allies, or on our own, Canada must be firm; our country cannot be a safe haven for corrupt foreign officials or their wealth. Accountability means enforcing the law and protecting the integrity of our democracy.”
President Sassou Nguesso and other family members are likely eligible for sanctions in both jurisdictions too, though today’s submission focuses on the two who allegedly laundered ill-gotten funds into U.S. markets. The State Department should also consider visa bans under Presidential Proclamation 10685 against foreign persons who enabled these corrupt schemes.
