Mobile-phone scandal in DRC traced back to Geneva

Zurich, Lausanne, 10. September 2025

Plagued by the scourge of counterfeit and stolen phones, the Democratic Republic of the Congo set up a mobile-phone register (RAM) in 2020. Financed for a year and a half by an opaque tax imposed on users, the scheme generated tens of millions of dollars that never appeared in the national budget. Thirty per cent of the revenues were planned to go to 5C Energy RDC, a small company tasked with providing “technical support”. It was part of a group of companies whose main branch, now in liquidation, was domiciled with a lawyer in Geneva. This case highlights the need for anti-money laundering due diligence requirements for financial advisors.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where 73 percent of the population live on less than 2.15 US dollars a day, the “RAM tax” provoked an outcry among the population and political class and was first financial scandal of Félix Tshisekedi’s presidency. In February 2022, he ordered the tax to be scrapped, but plenty of questions remain unanswered. The conditions under which 5C Energy RDC was appointed as provider of “technical support” by the Congolese Authority for the Regulation of Postal Services and Telecommunications, linked to the presidency, have never been clarified. Details of the contract, awarded without a call for tenders, as well as of the revenues received by this service provider, were never made public. While the DRC is ranked 163rd (out of 180 states) in Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Index, opposition voices have accused the president and his entourage of hiding behind 5C Energy RDC, which they have denied. 

This case, recounted by Public Eye, also highlights Switzerland’s role in setting up opaque corporate structures. 5C Energy RDC was founded in Kinshasa in 2019 by a Belgian citizen, who was then a director of 5C Energy SA, a company registered in Geneva in 2016. This entity was the main branch of 5C Energy, presenting itself on its website (now closed down) as an “independent group with an international presence and large network of partners”. In March 2023, 5C Energy SA was renamed Veltio Solutions SA, keeping the same director. In fall 2024, despite the scandal sparked in the DRC by the RAM tax, a well-known local lawyer agreed to offer the company domicile at his office. Veltio was last February put into liquidation. 

This legal service shows the importance of ensuring that advisors (lawyers or fiduciaries) are subject to the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), by imposing due-diligence obligations to verify the identity of their clients and to understand the nature of their business. This amendment to the AMLA, sought by the Federal Council, will be discussed tomorrow in the lower chamber of the Swiss parliament. In order to be effective, it is vital for these obligations to apply to all legal advisory activities posing a high risk of money laundering without the excessive restrictions proposed by the upper chamber. A register of beneficial ownership of companies, which is currently being finalized in Parliament, is also urgently needed, even though this register has significant shortcomings, as we have commented.

More information here or by contacting:

Oliver Classen, Media Director, +41 44 277 79 06, oliver.classen@publiceye.ch

Robert Bachmann, Finance Expert, +41 44 277 79 22, robert.bachmann@publiceye.ch