Congo Trial for Freeport-McMoRan Employees to Start in Prison

By Franz Wild

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The trial for employees of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s mining unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo will start in prison tomorrow, Attorney- General Octave Tela said.

A Belgian and two Congolese employees from the company, Tenke Fungurume Mining Sarl, and the immigration director of the southern Katanga Province, face charges of embezzlement and complicity in embezzlement, Tela said today in a phone interview from the capital, Kinshasa

“The trial will be held in prison,” Tela said. “It’s easier that way. Getting transport to the court isn’t so easy.”

Tenke Fungurume is investing $1.8 billion to build a mine on one the world’s richest copper and cobalt deposits. It plans to produce 250 million pounds (113,400 tons) of copper and 18 million pounds of cobalt annually, starting by the end of this year.

Four Tenke Fungurume employees, including one who has not been found, the immigration director and head of Katanga’s division of the labor ministry are accused of bypassing Congo’s visa and work permit system for their own profit. The trial is under the auspices of Congo’s court of appeal, because senior state officials are among the accused, Tela said.

The company has already paid $16 million in fees and penalties.

The prosecution is investigating why that fine was reduced from an initial $74 million, Tela said. “It appears this amount is not correct,” he said. “There is an enquiry underway as to why this amount was reduced.”

Tenke Fungurume spokeswoman Margaret Kabamba declined to comment immediately when reached on her mobile phone by Bloomberg News in Houston, Texas.

To contact the reporter on this story: Franz Wild in Kinshasa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.