Us sanctions Rwandan company for illegal gold trade financing M23 rebels in DRC

On Thursday, June 25, the United States government imposed sanctions on a Rwandan company and its owner, accusing them of selling gold illegally extracted from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to fund the antigovernment armed group M23.

The Treasury Department stated that Gasabo Gold Refinery and its head, Jean Malic Kalima, “were key partners of Rwandan government officials and M23 rebels, for whom they extracted and transported gold from eastern DRC.”

“The United States will not allow outlaw groups to profit from the illegal mineral trade…”

The U.S. Treasury alleged that Rwandan soldiers and M23 fighters coordinated security for gold shipments to the Congolese city of Bukavu, near the Rwandan border, and then onward to Gasabo’s headquarters in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital.

“In early 2026, 60 kilograms of gold, worth millions of dollars, were moved from eastern DRC to Gasabo in this manner,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

“The United States will not allow outlaw groups to profit from the illegal mineral trade to destabilize the region. The DRC’s mineral wealth belongs legitimately to the Congolese people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asserted in the announcement.

The American sanctions freeze all assets held directly or indirectly by the targeted individuals or entities within the United States. They also prohibit U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them, as well as foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries or those using the dollar in their transactions.

The M23 earns substantial revenue from a tax on mineral production and trade

Since its resurgence in late 2021, the antigovernment M23 group (short for “March 23 Movement”), backed by Kigali and the Rwandan army, has seized vast territories in eastern DRC, a region rich in natural resources and ravaged by conflict for three decades.

A report by the nongovernmental organization Global Witness, published in early June, highlighted that hundreds of tonnes of coltan had been looted from eastern DRC by the armed group and laundered through Rwanda before being exported to smelters that supply electronics giants.

In April 2024, the M23 captured the mining town of Rubaya, which provides 15% of the world’s coltan—a strategic mineral for the electronics industry. The armed group derives significant income from a tax on mineral production and trade. According to UN experts, approximately 120 tonnes of coltan were exported each month to Rwanda between May and October 2024.