Keypoints:
- Semlex and 13 others sent to trial
- Claimants allege nearly $60m was diverted
- Belgium’s foreign-bribery record faces scrutiny
BELGIUM’S justice system has moved one of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s most controversial public-contract cases towards criminal trial, after a Brussels court ordered biometrics company Semlex and 13 other defendants to answer allegations linked to the country’s passport programme.
The decision brings renewed scrutiny to a deal under which the price of a Congolese passport nearly doubled to $185. Civil parties in the case allege that almost $60m was diverted through the arrangement. The charges include alleged corruption, money laundering and tax fraud, but none of the allegations has been proven in court.
Belgian court sends case forward
A spokesperson for Belgium’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that Semlex and an unspecified number of employees were among those referred to the criminal court.
The Brussels Council Chamber issued the decision on Monday, according to Reuters.
The civil parties include 51 Congolese citizens and anti-corruption groups that joined the criminal investigation in 2020. Their involvement has given the proceedings a strong public-interest dimension centred on what happened to money paid by Congolese citizens for passports.
Fred Bauma, a Congolese human rights activist and claimant in the case, said the trial could provide long-awaited answers.
‘We have a right to know where our money went. This trial will finally shed light on the matter,’ Reuters quoted him as saying.
$185 passport price under scrutiny
The controversy dates back to the DRC’s biometric passport contract with Semlex, which produced Congolese passports between 2015 and 2025.
Reuters reported in a 2017 investigation that the arrangement pushed the cost of a passport to $185 and that $60 from each document issued went to a company reported to be linked to a relative of then-President Joseph Kabila.
Authorities have not conclusively established that connection. Reuters was also unable at the time to determine how much the Gulf-based company ultimately received.
The civil parties now allege that the wider arrangement resulted in the diversion of nearly $60m, although they have not publicly provided a detailed breakdown supporting that figure.
The passport case comes against a wider backdrop of concern over the management of Congolese public revenues. Africa Briefing has previously reported on claims that $530m in mining payments could not be traced to the state treasury.
It also follows Glencore’s $180m settlement with the DRC over corruption claims, highlighting broader questions about transparency in deals involving the country’s vast resources and public finances.
The contrast with today’s passport system is notable. The DRC Foreign Ministry introduced a new biometric passport in 2025 priced at $75, compared with the $185 fee associated with the previous arrangement.
That price difference does not establish wrongdoing under the earlier contract, but it helps explain why the deal attracted such intense public scrutiny.
Kabila not among defendants
The proceedings also revive attention on the political environment in which the passport agreement operated, but the legal distinction is important.
Former president Joseph Kabila is not identified as a defendant in the case.
Reuters said a person close to Kabila stated that the former president had no comment because he was not directly associated with the proceedings. The relative mentioned in the earlier reporting did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company said in 2017 that it had been the target of a smear campaign. François Koning, a lawyer who has previously represented the company, declined to comment.
Belgium faces anti-bribery test
The trial could carry wider significance for Belgium, which has faced criticism over its enforcement of laws against foreign bribery.
In March 2025, the OECD said only three foreign-bribery cases had been successfully concluded in Belgium since its 2013 evaluation, resulting in convictions of five individuals. No companies had been sanctioned during that period.
The OECD welcomed reforms to Belgian law but called for more investigations, prosecutions and resources to tackle foreign bribery.
Civil parties in the Semlex proceedings have described the referral as potentially leading to the first trial of a Belgian company for alleged bribery of foreign public officials.
Reuters said it could not independently confirm that claim, meaning it remains an assertion by the civil parties rather than an established fact.
What happens next?
No date has yet been announced for the trial.
For the Congolese citizens involved, the proceedings offer the prospect of judicial scrutiny of allegations that have surrounded the passport contract for years.
For Belgium, the case could become an important test of whether strengthened anti-bribery laws can translate into effective corporate prosecutions.
Semlex and the other defendants remain presumed innocent unless and until guilt is established in court.
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