Ahead of Illicit Finance Summit, Human Rights First and Sassoufit Collective Urge the United Kingdom to Sanction Corrupt Congolese Actors

June 24, 2026

Washington, D.C. and Toronto

 As the United Kingdom’s Illicit Finance Summit was originally scheduled to take place this week, Human Rights First and the Sassoufit Collective urged London to take advantage of the event’s postponement by acting more decisively against kleptocracy – including by imposing targeted sanctions on members of the Republic of the Congo’s ruling family. To that end, the two groups today submitted a dossier to the UK government laying out the case for sanctions against Claudia and Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso, two adult children of the country’s longtime president allegedly involved in embezzling public funds and laundering them into foreign real estate. The two organizations previously recommended sanctions against the two Sassou Nguesso children to the U.S. and Canadian governments.

“The Congolese people have suffered for far too long, and President Sassou Nguesso’s recent ‘reelection’ shows that his corrupt family members will not be held accountable at home,” said Andréa Ngombet, founder and executive director of the Sassoufit Collective. “By imposing the sanctions we seek today, the UK government could take an important step toward justice – and toward leading the international fight against the kind of dirty money that can sustain a kleptocratic dictatorship like Congo’s for decades.”

In recent years, corrupt schemes that allegedly involved or benefited members of the Sassou Nguesso family have been the focus of legal action by authorities in multiple countries in Europe and North America. The sanctions recommendation against Claudia and Denis-Christel focuses on allegations raised by the U.S. Department of Justice that the two used embezzled public funds to purchase luxury apartments in New York and Miami, acts that merit sanctions under the UK’s Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions regulations. Sanctioning these two would significantly restrict their ability to move their dirty money around the world, protecting the UK and countless other countries from their corruption.

The recommended sanctions are even more important against the backdrop of the U.S. government’s increasing failure to use its anti-corruption sanctions programs to hold corrupt elites accountable. “With the Trump administration more likely to lift penalties or sanctions targeting corrupt officials than to impose them, other jurisdictions need to do more to ensure that the fight against corruption continues,” said Uzra Zeya, president and CEO of Human Rights First. “The United Kingdom should lead other jurisdictions and take action against corrupt elites who otherwise will not face justice.” 

The UK government has described the Summit as “bring[ing] together a diverse coalition of governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to tackle dirty money around the world.” Advocates have urged the UK to show greater ambition, though, in laying groundwork for the rescheduled event. Given the two Sassou Nguesso children’s past ties to the UK and the vast scope of corruption in which their broader family is allegedly involved, taking action against them would be a welcome step consistent with UK policy commitments. 

“While the UK government has made welcome commitments to ramp up its use of anti-corruption sanctions, it is vital that this tough talk is now backed up by the delivery of high-impact designations,” said James Bolton-Jones, Senior Policy Researcher at Spotlight on Corruption. “The case for sanctions here is strong, and a designation by the UK government would support wider efforts to disrupt kleptocratic networks and secure accountability for corruption. It would also be a tangible demonstration of the UK’s commitment to tackling corruption and illicit finance ahead of an international summit in December.”