Kate JanThe legal battle between OCTAVIA, the Emirati group led by French businessman Pascal Beveraggi, and ASTALIA, a company controlled by Congolese politician Moïse Katumbi, exemplifies a calculated attempt to seize the assets of NB MINING. Beneath this economic conflict lie personal and political motivations: a quest for vengeance and a blatant effort to reclaim, by force, what was lost through legal and court-validated transactions.
A Targeted Enterprise
In 2015, MCK, a struggling mining company owned by Moïse Katumbi, was acquired by NECOTRANS, a French logistics group. After NECOTRANS collapsed financially in 2017, Pascal Beveraggi, tasked with restructuring the company, legally acquired the firm’s assets and debts through a decision by the Paris Commercial Court. However, Katumbi, the former owner of MCK (which had since become NB MINING), never accepted this outcome, seeing the transaction as a personal and political loss.
ASTALIA, a shell company based in Mauritius and managed by Katumbi’s wife, subsequently launched fraudulent schemes to reclaim NB MINING’s assets. Leveraging political and judicial connections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Katumbi orchestrated illegal actions to destabilize the company, even resorting to extrajudicial and violent means.
A Campaign of Vengeance and Usurpation
The conflict began when NECOTRANS purchased MCK from ASTALIA in 2015 for $140 million. Shortly after the sale, Katumbi, having parted with MCK, announced his candidacy for the Congolese presidential election, sparking a wave of fiscal and political reprisals that plunged MCK into severe financial difficulties. Beveraggi, appointed by NECOTRANS to lead MCK’s board of directors, successfully turned the company around.
When NECOTRANS declared bankruptcy two years later, Beveraggi, still chairman of NB MINING, legally acquired the mining assets through the Paris Commercial Court. Katumbi, exiled at the time, rejected this decision and demanded an immediate, baseless payment of $30 million. French courts dismissed these claims.
Early Judicial and Political Attacks
In 2018, OCTAVIA, now the owner of NB MINING AFRICA, resumed operations in the DRC. Meanwhile, Katumbi, buoyed by local political allies amid shifts in the Congolese political landscape, plotted his return to reclaim the assets—at any cost. In 2020, a court in Kolwezi issued a fraudulent ruling awarding $70 million to ASTALIA without notifying OCTAVIA or allowing it to defend itself. Using this fabricated judgment, Katumbi deployed armed forces to seize NB MINING AFRICA’s offices and mining sites, resulting in a violent attack that left two dead and several employees injured.
International Schemes Exposed
In 2021 and 2022, ASTALIA sought to enforce the Kolwezi judgment in Dubai using falsified documents. OCTAVIA exposed the fraud in Emirati courts, which ultimately ruled in Beveraggi’s favor in both appellate and supreme courts.
The 2024 Kinshasa/Gombe Court Judgment: Fraud Confirmed
In October 2024, the Kinshasa/Gombe High Court issued a damning judgment against ASTALIA and its accomplices, confirming their illegal practices and abuses. The ruling implicated Alain Serge Mungimur and Sengo Auguste, employees of ECOBANK DRC, in embezzling over $5 million from NB
MINING AFRICA’s accounts to benefit ASTALIA using a forged proxy. The court held the bank jointly liable, ordering it to pay $5.5 million in damages to NB MINING AFRICA and OCTAVIA.
This judgment underscored the fraudulent nature of ASTALIA’s actions and highlighted Katumbi’s systematic attempts to illegally reclaim assets he no longer owned.
A Slow but Decisive Justice
The ruling reinforced OCTAVIA and Beveraggi’s legal standing, marking a significant step toward recovering assets and funds misappropriated by ASTALIA. However, implementation remains hindered by local complicity and political obstacles protecting Katumbi and his allies.
This case underscores the challenges faced by foreign investors in the DRC, where political and economic rivalries often undermine the rule of law. Despite judicial victories, OCTAVIA continues to encounter resistance in enforcing rulings, though accumulated evidence and repeated judgments provide a strong foundation for full restitution.
OCTAVIA: A Symbol of Resilience Against Power Abuse
This legal saga exposes blatant abuses of power and judicial manipulation by Katumbi and ASTALIA. In the face of these maneuvers, OCTAVIA and Pascal Beveraggi have demonstrated remarkable resilience, relying on legal channels and transparency to counter an entrenched network of fraud.
In an environment where justice is frequently tested by political interests, this case stands as a symbolic victory for upholding foreign investors’ rights and the core principles of economic justice.