Israeli billionaire mining investor Dan Gertler denied on Thursday that he had tried to evade U.S. sanctions after watchdogs said he appeared to have funnelled millions of dollars through a bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Gertler’s statement to Reuters followed a report published on Thursday by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) and campaign group Global Witness citing evidence indicating that Gertler had moved the money through Afriland First Bank’s branch in Congo in order to dodge sanctions. 

Their report pointed to leaked bank documents allegedly showing millions of dollars moving in and out of Afriland accounts opened by people with ties to Gertler after he was first sanctioned in 2017...

Reuters did not see the evidence and was not able to independently confirm it.  

Gertler said the allegations were false. 

“I have no relationship whatsoever with numerous individuals supposedly identified in this story and the cash deposits referred to are fictitious or have nothing to do with me, or anyone on my behalf,” Gertler said in the statement...

Afriland filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors in Paris on Wednesday, accusing PPLAAF and Global Witness of, among other things, bribing Congolese officials and blackmailing sources during their investigation...

PPLAAF and Global Witness said the accusations “constitute unjustified attempts to intimidate us into not publishing these important allegations”. 

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Gertler and more than 30 of his businesses in December 2017 and June 2018, accusing him of using his friendship with former Congo President Joseph Kabila to secure sweetheart mining deals worth more than a billion dollars. Gertler denied any wrongdoing.