Odette Krempin, Congolese entrepreneur, Died at 42

  Business

Princess Odette Maniema Krempin was born October 30, 1973, and died on June 27, 2016.

She was an African entrepreneur.

She was a former honorary consul of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Frankfurt am Main, and a member of the Kuba Kingdom.

She was raised in the province of Maniema, until her family moved to Paris when she was eight years old.

Krempin became a tailor, studied fashion design in Paris and Marrakech, and opened a boutique in Niger at the age of 20.

She relocated to Frankfurt am Main in 2007, and founded the Deutsch-Afrikanisches Jugendwerk, a teaching organization.

During September 2011, she was appointed Chairwoman of Somima, a mining company in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Odette was the subject of various scandals involving allegations of fraud, embezzlement of donations and other financial improprieties.

There were doubts thrown upon the veracity of her business-related claims.

During 2012, Krempin declared personal bankruptcy in Germany.

A German criminal court sentenced her to a payment of €15.000 in 2015, for non-payment of personal invoices and failure to appear

Along with her then-boyfriend Stefan De Witte, she disappeared in 2014 while being sought for questioning by Belgian police in the Duferco corruption scandal, which had led to multiple arrests and the resignation of Serge Kubla as mayor of Waterloo, Belgium.

Odette Krempin passed away at 42 years old.