The US financial corporation has accused the Central African country and several state officials of bribery and contract sabotage which led to the collapse of a landmark digital banking joint venture
Idaho-based PayServices Bank is claiming just over USD 4.09 billion from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as well as the country’s Ministry of Portfolio and several individuals, alleging that bribery and a civil conspiracy had resulted in the failure of the pivotal ITAM Congo-Kinshasa project, which was designed to revamp the DRC’s state-owned bank and digitalise its national economy
The US financial institution filed the suit on 8 January with the US District Court for the District of Idaho, with its claims including breach of contract, tortious interference with a contract, civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment
According to the filing, the DRC government had invited PayServices to its embassy in Washington, DC, in late 2023 to present a plan for the ITAM Congo-Kinshasa project. The country’s state-owned bank, Central Bank of the Congo (BCC), estimated that the project would generate over USD 8 billion in potential revenue, which was to be shared equally between the DRC and PayServices
PayServices said it had poured more than USD 72 million in technology and services into the DRC to begin the joint-venture project, but that “several corrupt DRC officials” (the individual defendants), had subsequently conspired to sabotage the project “in direct defiance” of DRC President Félix Tshisekedi’s orders
The lawsuit asserts that the defendants had conspired to solicit millions in bribes from PayServices and attempted to steal the corporation’s intellectual property. When these demands were refused by PayServices, the individual defendants then colluded to sabotage and breach the contract, and end the project, “presumably to the benefit of competing technology companies who would, in contrast, pay these bribes to the individual defendants”, the filing contends
The claimant states that the venture was underpinned by a US-based, Idaho-governed contract for a USD 20 million investment in PayServices, and that the DRC’s blocking of this payment caused “massive financial losses” in Idaho
PayServices is seeking to recover its direct damages, the USD 72 million in invested capital and its share of lost profits, totalling in excess of USD 4.092 billion
The filing states: “The resulting breach by the DRC was not a simple default but was created by the bad faith acts of the individual defendants. As alleged […] it involved a conspiracy by the individual defendants to solicit bribes, sabotage the project in direct defiance of presidential orders, and steal PayServices’ intellectual property by installing a competitor in direct violation of binding exclusivity agreements.”
Among the individual defendants are Minister of Portfolio Julie Shiku, who was the deputy chief of staff at the Ministry of Finance at the time of the alleged breaches; current Minister of Finance Doudou Likunde; Anthony Kamole, the chief of staff to the DRC president; Célestin Muntuabu, director general of the Congo Savings Bank (CADECO); and Andre Nkualoloki, governor of the BCC and former deputy chief of staff to the president
PayServices Bank is represented by Charles Parker and Andres Sanchez from Parker Sanchez & Donnelly, and John Kurtz from Kurtz Law
In other disputes developments, mining company Ntega Holding Burundi initiated arbitral proceedings against the Republic of Burundi earlier this month – five years after Burundi suspended international mining operations in the East African country
