The New York-based fund FG Hemisphere is seeking to seize real estate belonging to Francis Selemani, Kabila’s brother, around the world (Hong Kong, Jersey, South Africa, United States) to recover $30 million, plus approximately $2.6 million in annual interest, in a dispute dating back more than twenty years.
Francis Selemani acquired 17 luxury properties (sometimes cited as 20 in total, including 4 in the United States and 16 in South Africa) between 2015 and 2018. In the United States, these are homes located primarily in Maryland, near Washington, D.C. In South Africa, they are luxury residences in the Gauteng region (notably in Johannesburg). The total investment is estimated at at least $6.6 million (approximately $3.5 million in the United States and $3.1 million in South Africa).
The FG Hemisphere fund is attempting to seize a portfolio of luxury properties located in Maryland, acquired by Francis Selemani and his wife between 2015 and 2018. More than fifteen properties are under scrutiny by the US justice system. US courts have frozen ownership of these assets pending a determination of whether their acquisition was financed with misappropriated Congolese public funds.
A long-standing debt owed to SNEL (the national electricity company)
This pursuit is part of a dispute that has lasted more than twenty years between the fund and the Congolese state. In the early 2000s, FG Hemisphere acquired a debt owed by the Yugoslav company Energoinvest to the National Electricity Company (SNEL). Arbitration rulings issued in 2005 ordered the DRC to pay over $30 million, plus approximately $2.6 million in annual interest.
FG Hemisphere’s “Vulture” Strategy
Specializing in the purchase of distressed sovereign debt, the fund is now seeking Congolese assets worldwide (Hong Kong, Jersey, South Africa, United States) to recoup its losses.
FG Hemisphere’s offensive relies heavily on the revelations of the Congo Hold-up investigation (2021). Francis Selemani, former head of BGFIBank DRC, is accused by NGOs like The Sentry of using a system of straw men and shell companies to launder millions of dollars of public funds. Selemani is currently fighting in court to have his assets in Maryland frozen, claiming the lawsuits are baseless. FGH maintains that the houses were purchased “all cash” under suspicious circumstances, with money looted in the DRC by Kabila and passing through Selemani in his capacity as CEO of BGFIBank. Selemani’s defense team, led by Brian D. Lyman, asserts that there is no direct link between these personal properties and the decades-old $30 million judgment against the DRC government. In addition, and relatedly, the US government recently imposed sanctions on Joseph Kabila, on May 1, 2026, for his alleged role in supporting the M23 rebel group.
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