Late on Monday, March 16, Antonio Gozzi, president of Italian steel producers' association Federacciai and CEO of Swiss-based international steel trader
Duferco, was arrested in Brussels together with his
Duferco colleague Massimo Croci in an investigation into alleged offenses committed by them in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a statement,
Duferco expressed amazement at the arrest of Gozzi and Croci and questioned the method of proceeding of the Belgian judges. The suspicion of the judges, Belgian media reported, is that the two men were involved in corruption, in which former Congolese prime minister Adolphe Muzito would also have been involved. According to the indictment, they are alleged to have corrupted officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to obtain contracts.
Duferco said that the two men had travelled from
Italy to Brussels to testify in the investigation. On Friday, March 20, they will appear before a judge who will decide whether to approve the arrest.
Duferco stated that it has respected a strict code of ethics since its foundation and stressed that both men benefit from the trust of the group and its shareholders now more than ever.