Aziza Kulsum Gulamali

Cigarette factory owner, alleged arms dealer

Aziza Kulsum Gulamali, born in Burundi in 1944, is also known as the “Coltan Queen” for her alleged role in trafficking that precious metal, central to much mobile phone technology. The United Nations has criticized Gulamali for financing and providing weapons to rebels during Burundi’s civil war in the early 1990s. In 2002, Swiss authorities investigated Gulamali and members of her immediate family for money laundering. The case was later dropped and Gulamali won nominal court costs. (Information updated Feb. 19, 2015)

File details

Listed as living in Belgium, Kulsum was linked to three HSBC numbered client accounts opened between 1990 and 1997. One account -15208BAMA- linked to two bank accounts that together held as much as $3.26 million in 2006/2007, was later blocked for unspecified compliance reasons. She showed up as a joint account holder of that numbered client account. The other two accounts were closed in 1995 and 2000. The leaked files do not specify the exact role Kulsum had in relation to these accounts.

Comment

Gulamali did not respond to ICIJ's repeated requests for comment.