Matata Ponyo Mapon, who served as prime minister from 2012-2016 under then-President Joseph Kabila, was convicted on Tuesday in a case involving the embezzlement of $245 million. He was sentenced to 10 years forced labour, the Constitutional Court said.
None of the three is in custody and all were tried in absentia. Ponyo's lawyer, Laurent Onyemba, told Reuters Ponyo is in Kinshasa, and the case against him was unfair and politically motivated. Congolese authorities believe Grobler is in South Africa and Mutombo is in Belgium.
The case was opened in 2021 after investigators appointed by Tshisekedi began digging into the conduct of the previous government.
Kabila, who agreed to step down in 2018 after almost two decades in power, has been out of the country since late 2023, mostly in South Africa. Tshisikedi's government has accused him of links to the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels that have captured territory in eastern Congo, which his party denies.
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