Brussels, Sept. 1st 2026 (CPA) – The 14 defendants in the Semlex case, relating to the production of biometric passports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have been referred to the Belgian Criminal Court on Monday on charges of alleged international corruption, according to the Belga news agency. “We can confirm that all the suspects have been referred to the criminal court,” has indicated the federal public prosecutor’s office, as quoted by the Belgian media. The Belgian company Semlex has produced DRC’s biometric passports between 2015 and 2025.According to the civil parties, the defendants will face charges of alleged corruption of foreign public officials, money laundering and tax fraud in connection with this contract. They are presumed innocent, the source has specified.
According to the civil parties, for every passport sold for $185, $60 would have been paid to LRPS Ltd, a Dubai-based company believed to be linked to an unspecified associate of former Congolese President Joseph Kabila. The scheme is alleged to have generated nearly $60 million in alleged embezzlement. The Belgian judicial authorities have opened an investigation in 2017, and a search has been carried out at Semlex’s offices in Belgium in January 2018. By May 2020, 51 Congolese citizens had joined the proceedings as civil parties. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Human Rights League (LDH), Unis, Transparency International and Transparency International Belgium had also joined the proceedings as civil parties, the source has reminded.
The civil parties have welcomed the decision on Monday, which came after nearly nine years of investigation. They hope that the trial will establish who is responsible and shed light on the destination of part of the sums paid by Congolese citizens. They consider Semlex to be the first Belgian company to be brought before a Belgian criminal court on allegations of international corruption, Belga has concluded.