The settlement ends a long-running probe into whether Fleurette, a Netherlands-registered company previously linked to Gertler’s business empire, secured valuable mining licences in Congo through bribery.
The central African country is one of the world’s richest sources of copper and cobalt, key minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles and other technologies.
Dutch investigators opened the probe in 2018 to examine whether Fleurette and Swiss commodities giant Glencore paid bribes to obtain mining rights at prices far below market value.
Prosecutors suspected that tens of millions of dollars were paid to Augustin Katumba Mwanke, the late financial and political adviser to former Congolese president Joseph Kabila, who governed the country from 2001 to 2019 and had close ties with Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler.
In a statement, the Dutch public prosecutor’s office said the fine was imposed on March 6.
“By accepting this criminal settlement, the public prosecutor establishes that Fleurette, acting in concert with others, is guilty of bribing a foreign public official in the DRC in connection with the acquisition of mining licences,” AFP quoted the office as saying the office said.
Dutch authorities had earlier dropped their investigation into Glencore, which partnered with Gertler in several Congolese mining ventures, after the Swiss commodities giant agreed to pay a fine in a separate corruption case in Switzerland.
Lawyers representing Fleurette told AFP that the settlement closes the Dutch investigation and confirmed that authorities will not pursue charges against Gertler personally.
The company also confirmed the payment in a statement, saying it had “paid a settlement of EUR25.8 million to the Dutch authorities, as required by the penal order“.
It added that the agreement ends “an eight-year investigation into historic matters dating back to 2010, without charge against any individuals or other entities.”
Gertler has been a major figure in Congo’s mining sector for nearly two decades, acting as an intermediary in some of the country’s biggest resource deals.
His activities have attracted international scrutiny.
The United States sanctioned Gertler in 2017, accusing him of using opaque mining deals to deprive the Congolese government of about $1.4 billion in revenue.
Some sanctions were briefly lifted at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency but were reinstated by Washington in March 2021.
In 2022, the Congolese government reached an out-of-court settlement with Gertler allowing the state to regain control of disputed mining and oil assets valued at more than $2 billion.
Details of Gertler’s business dealings in Congo gained global attention after the release of the Panama Papers in 2016, which exposed offshore financial networks used by powerful individuals around the world.
Gertler has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his business dealings in the country.
