A top court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced former Prime Minister Matata Ponyo Mapon to 10 years of forced labour after convicting him of embezzling $245 million from a failed agricultural project.
Ponyo, who served from 2012 to 2016 under former President Joseph Kabila, was tried in absentia along with former central bank governor Deogratias Mutombo and South African businessman Christo Grobler. Both Mutombo and Grobler received five-year sentences. None of the three is currently in custody.
The charges relate to a massive corn farming project launched under Kabila’s administration, which collapsed in 2017. Investigations into the failed initiative began in 2021 under President Félix Tshisekedi.
Ponyo, who remains in Kinshasa, denies wrongdoing and claims the case is politically driven.
FORMER CONGO PM SENTENCED OVER $245 MILLION CORRUPTION SCANDAL
