The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been a terrible ordeal, costing an estimated 6 million lives since 1997. Part of what funded the long conflict was gold mined illegally in the resource-rich Congo. So far the parties that have been sanctioned by the United Nations for illegal mining and exploitation of the gold have all been African.

Now the net has widened. The Swiss NPO TRIAL announced that it was targeting a Swiss gold refinery part owned by Commerzbank and the Austrian mint for refining gold from the Congo. TRIAL said it filed a criminal complaint against gold refiner Argor-Heraeus, accusing the firm of refining 3 tons of gold ore pillaged from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. TRIAL suspects Argor-Heraeus “of being guilty of the crime of laundering the proceeds of a major crime … and handling goods pillaged during an armed conflict,” it said in a statement.
Swiss Gold Refiner Accused Of Abetting Congo War Via Money Laundering

Trial_Stop_Pillage_NewsRelease
Tria_Pillage_E-Congo
ArgorHeraeus_Commercial_Register
ArgorHeraeus_Comp_Presentation