A criminal investigation has been launched in Belgium in which Apple is suspected of buying minerals supplied by armed groups implicated in violent crimes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
This is reported by the Financial Times.
At the centre of the investigation were so-called blood minerals such as tantalum, coltan, tin, tungsten and gold, which were extracted from mines controlled by militants.
Lawyers representing the Democratic Republic of Congo characterised Apple’s actions as a large-scale money laundering operation.
‘Apple said it ‘strongly disagrees’ with the DRC’s claims and is ‘deeply committed to responsible mining,’’ the piece points out.
At the end of 2024, Apple was fined 3.6 million rubles for failure to remove prohibited information.
