US Prosecutors Move To Seize A $2.8 Million Penthouse From DR Congo President’s Son

Prosecutors in the United States are looking to seize a penthouse in a luxury condominium tower in Miami that they say a son of the Republic of the Congo’s president bought with money embezzled from the country’s state-owned oil company.

According to a civil forfeiture complaint filed last week by federal prosecutors in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso, a parliament minister and son of Congo’s president Denis Sassou Nguesso, allegedly bought the 3,500-square-foot penthouse at 900 Biscayne Blvd. in 2012.

Court documents revealed this week that the prosecutors issued a notice about the forfeiture to Nathalie Boumba Pembe, who is married to the younger Mr. Nguesso and is an authorized user of the property.

It is alleged that the younger Mr. Nguesso bought the penthouse condo for about $2.8 million with help from an associate and by using an alias.

The condo was purchased with money the younger Mr. Nguesso misappropriated from Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo, where he held positions and had access to the state-owned petroleum company’s finances, prosecutors allege.

Prosecutors in their complaint didn’t name either of the Messrs. Nguessos as defendants. Nathalie Boumba Pembe also wasn’t named as a defendant.