Belgian investigators carried out a series of raids on Wednesday night as part of a widening corruption and money-laundering probe, searching homes in Brussels and its northern and southern suburbs tied to relatives and close aides of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi.
The operation forms part of an investigation connected to mining revenue from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The searches followed a complaint filed in 2025 by non-governmental organizations from Katanga province, in the mineral-rich south of the country. Two lawyers representing the groups — one Belgian, the other Congolese and based in France — said the inquiry extends well beyond the president’s immediate family to a broader circle of people close to him.
According to one of the lawyers, the complaint accuses Belgian nationals of seizing control of mining resources and laundering proceeds diverted from royalties meant for local communities, allowing those involved to sustain lifestyles far beyond what their legitimate income could support. Nine individuals close to the presidential family, all holding Belgian nationality, are reportedly under investigation over the alleged plunder of mining concessions in the Haut-Katanga and Lualaba provinces.
A spokeswoman for Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office confirmed searches were carried out at several addresses in and around Brussels as part of the money-laundering probe opened after the 2025 complaint, though she declined to say whether those targeted were indeed relatives of the president.
Tshisekedi spent part of his youth in Belgium, where his father, veteran opposition figure Étienne Tshisekedi, once sought political asylum. He and his wife reportedly still rent property in Brussels, and their five children are said to be enrolled in Belgian schools.
The timing adds to mounting pressure on the Congolese leader, who is already contending with an armed insurgency in the east now led by his predecessor, Joseph Kabila, a deadly Ebola outbreak, and growing opposition claims that he intends to seek a third term in office. Congo holds some of the world’s largest reserves of copper and cobalt, yet its mining sector has long struggled to shake off persistent allegations of graft, even as global competition intensifies for the strategic minerals needed in batteries and clean-energy technology.
