A $17.6 million transfer reportedly linked to a bank account affiliated with the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become part of a dispute between two allies of US President Donald Trump, The New York Times reported on Saturday, October 17.
The dispute involves former Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell and Alina Habba, a former personal lawyer to Trump.
Habba accused Grenell of misappropriating money from a deal involving her new husband, Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon. She said $5.6 million of the transfer was supposed to be returned to the Kennedy Center but never arrived.
The origin of the money has since drawn attention. Habba initially presented it as her husband’s money, but documents sent to the White House by Mildon’s lawyer reportedly concealed the sender’s name.
The Times said an internal investigation found that the funds came from an account affiliated with the Congolese government. Grenell acknowledged consulting for TX-AT, the Texas security and defence company that received the money, in 2024, but said he had no connection to the company when the transfer was made.
The purpose of the payment remains unclear, and TX-AT did not respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment.
The case is also drawing attention to Mildon’s business interests in the DRC. He has presented himself as an adviser to President Félix Tshisekedi and holds a Congolese diplomatic passport, the Times reported.
His company, Milvest, has received major public contracts, including for the Kinshasa financial centre, Kinshasa Arena and Mukilango social housing. Kinshasa Arena and Mukilango have not been delivered.
The questions over the transfer come as people close to Tshisekedi face scrutiny in Belgium. On October 14, Belgian police searched several addresses in Brussels and nearby areas as part of a money-laundering investigation linked to Congolese mining revenues.
Lawyers representing Katanga-based NGOs say their complaint concerns the alleged diversion of mining income and laundering of funds by Belgian citizens. Belgian authorities confirmed the searches but did not say whether Tshisekedi’s relatives were among those targeted. The Congolese presidency declined to comment, Reuters reported.
Separately, a Belgian court has ordered Semlex and 13 other defendants to stand trial over alleged corruption, money laundering and tax fraud linked to the DRC’s biometric passport programme under former president Joseph Kabila.
That case is distinct from the current investigation involving people reportedly close to Tshisekedi, and its allegations have not been proven, Business Insider Africa reported.
Another source of controversy is the Congolese government’s use of foreign security contractors linked to Erik Prince, founder of the former private military firm Blackwater.
Prince’s initial mandate was to secure mining sites, improve revenue collection and curb mineral smuggling. But Reuters has reported that his role expanded to include support for Congolese forces in the east. AFP reported that his 2024 contract was worth between $100 million and $200 million.
Together, the disputed transfer, the Belgian investigations and the growing role of foreign contractors are fuelling questions about transparency and oversight in the DRC.
The allegations have become politically embarrassing for Tshisekedi’s government.
