An investigation into overseas properties accumulated by the elites who rule what is considered one of the most kleptocratic states in Africa has found 11 upmarket homes in France and the US linked to a trusted adviser of the country’s president.
Maxime Gandzion, (above left), is the head of one of the most powerful and politically connected families in Congo Brazzaville where he has been a close associate of President Denis Sassou Nguessou, who has ruled the country almost continuously since 1979.
Gandzion, 71, has long been alleged to have profited from his relationship with the president by playing a prominent role in the so-called “Gunvor scandal”, which involved the national petroleum company and a Swiss trading company.
New research by Finance Uncovered (FU) and Opening Central Africa (OCA) has traced the ownership of 11 homes in Paris, Strasbourg and Miami to four members of the Gandzion family.
Four of the properties are linked to Marie-No Gandzion, the newly appointed deputy mayor of Strasbourg, France in a revelation that raises questions over the extent to which children of politically connected parents may benefit from highly controversial deals they were not involved in.
The findings are part of a wider project by FU and OCA, a coalition of anti-corruption organisations from five kleptocratic states in Africa, that aims to identify properties owned by politically exposed persons (PEPs) and their immediate family members using publicly available records.
Maxime, Yoann and Marie-No Gandzion all declined to respond to requests for comment. Olivia Gandzion emphatically denied that any of the property acquisitions this investigation linked her to were funded by the Gunvor scandal.
Read the full investigation here ->
Credit photo : Marie-No GANDZION, photographed by Thomas Toussaint-Antal in Strasbourg (29.06.2026)
