The salient legal battle between OCTAVIA, led by French businessman Pascal Beveraggi, and ASTALIA, a company controlled by Congolese politician Moïse Katumbi, is about the control of NB MINING. What had started as a commercial dispute unraveled as layers and layers of political and personal hostility. At the core of the fight is Katumbi’s aggressive bid to retrieve, through dubious means, assets legally and properly acquired by Beveraggi in court-supervised transactions.
Contested acquisition
The cause of the dispute dates back to 2015, when the French logistics giant NECOTRANS bought the mining company MCK from Katumbi for US$140 million. Three years later, in 2017, NECOTRANS filed for bankruptcy. The Commercial Court of Paris decided upon the transfer of all its assets and liabilities-including the now-named NB MINING, formerly MCK-to Pascal Beveraggi, who was charged with re-structuring the firm as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Although the transaction was legitimate, Katumbi refused to accept its result. Interpreting it as both a political and personal defeat, he launched the campaign of recapture of NB MINING via ASTALIA, a Mauritius-based shell company controlled by his wife. From false claims and political influence to judicial manipulation, Katumbi used every available means in the DRC.
Legal Maneuvers and Political Escalation by Moïse Katumbi
Katumbi’s frustration at losing MCK soon turned to hostility. Within a few months of the bankruptcy of NECOTRANS, Beveraggi legally acquired the assets of the company. Despite that, Katumbi in political exile issued baseless claims for $30 million compensation, which were thrown out by French courts.
In 2018, OCTAVIA began serious operations through its affiliate NB MINING AFRICA, indicating its determination for the rehabilitation of the company. However, Katumbi, using the influence of changing events in the DRC’s politics, mounted his campaign. In 2020, a Kolwezi court issued a sham judgment, ordering OCTAVIA to pay $70 million to ASTALIA without being able to contest the claim. With this judgment in hand, Katumbi, supported by armed forces, seized NB MINING’s offices and mining sites, resulting in a violent confrontation that killed two employees and wounded others.
Katumbi’s fraudulent activities didn’t stop within the DRC. Between 2021 and 2022, ASTALIA attempted to have the Kolwezi court’s judgment enforced in Dubai, using forged documents. However, Emirati appellate and supreme courts ruled in favor of Pascal Beveraggi and dismissed ASTALIA’s claims. These rulings reinforced OCTAVIA’s rightful ownership of NB MINING AFRICA.
2024 Kinshasa/Gombe High Court Ruling: Fraud Confirmed
In October 2024, the High Court of Kinshasa/Gombe issued a serious blow to ASTALIA and its co conspirators. The court confirmed the involvement of the company in illegal practices and implicated the two employees of the ECOBANK DRC named Alain Serge Mungimur and Sengo Auguste for embezzling more than $5 million from NB MINING AFRICA’s accounts, which were funneled into ASTALIA using forged proxies.
ECOBANK was declared jointly liable and ordered to pay $5.5 million in damages to OCTAVIA and NB MINING AFRICA. This decision not only unmasked the fraudulent claims of ASTALIA but also revealed, for the umpteenth time, the continued perversion of the rule of law by Moïse Katumbi.
The Difficulties of the Rule of Law in the DRC
Despite multiple favorable court rulings, OCTAVIA continues to face significant challenges in enforcing judgments within the DRC. Local complicity and political alliances provide a shield for Katumbi and his collaborators, delaying the restitution of assets and funds to Beveraggi’s company. Yet, the resilience of OCTAVIA, through successive legal victories, serves as a good cornerstone for ultimate restitution. This case has brought into focus the systemic problems that foreign investors encounter in jurisdictions where political influence undermines the rule of law.
This is the breakdown of the legal saga, which has been pursued by the fraudulent strategies of Moïse Katumbi and ASTALIA, regarding the larger ramifications of judicial manipulation and political interference in the DRC. Pascal Beveraggi and OCTAVIA, through openness and the rule of law, have countered these abuses.
This case serves as a warning to foreign investors and as a test of how seriously the protection of the legal principle of judicial independence is in politically compromised contexts. It also underlines the importance of effective judicial redress mechanisms to support legitimate business activities and to ascertain economic justice.
