(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy THE SENTRY)
Key Findings
- An investigation by The Sentry raises significant concerns that gold mined from conflict areas in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (“Congo”) is reaching international markets, including the supply chains of major U.S. companies and in products that consumers use every day.
- Documents reviewed and interviews conducted by The Sentry raise serious concern that the corporate network controlled by Belgian tycoon Alain Goetz has refined illegally-smuggled conflict gold from eastern Congo at the African Gold Refinery (AGR) in Uganda and then exported it through a series of companies to the United States and Europe, potentially including Amazon, General Electric (GE), and Sony.
- According to documents reviewed by The Sentry, AGR exported approximately $377 million in gold in 2017 to an apparent affiliate of the Belgian gold refinery Tony Goetz NV, based in Dubai. Numerous sources interviewed by The Sentry identified AGR as sourcing conflict gold from Congo. AGR denies this and maintains that it is committed to refraining from any action that contributes to the financing of conflict.
