Glencore is facing fines in millions of dollars for a series of corruption offences in which it used a private plane to fly money to bribe officials in different African governments.
In June, a division of the FTSE 100 commodities behemoth admitted to paying many bribes to get access to oil supplies.
Following the filing of a number of charges by the Serious Fraud Office, it was the first time a firm had ever been found guilty of bribery under UK law (SFO).
Glencore may face fines of over £243 million, and the SFO is requesting the highest confiscation order ever against a British business of £93.4 million, as well as £4.5 million in fees.
At today’s sentence hearing at Southwark Crown Court in London, the exact sum will be decided.
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Glencore’s attorney stated on Wednesday at a hearing that the company “unconditionally regrets the harm caused.”
However, prosecuting attorney Alexandra Healy asserted that “corruption was pervasive inside the enterprise” and that “offering of bribes was an accepted method of conducting business for the company.”
After a protracted inquiry, it was discovered that Glencore’s London-based oil trading department paid bribes totaling more than £24 million to get privileged access to cargoes in South Sudan, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.
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The investigation discovered that a Glencore agent in Nigeria took over £3.6 million from a slush fund and often used a private plane to fly the money to Cameroon to bribe authorities, among a long list of other offences.
Agents, executives, and dealers for Glencore were so casual that they frequently addressed one another as “senorita” and “bro,” even when talking about bribery.
Another agent received £870,000 in 2011 to pay bribes to Equatorial Guinean authorities in exchange for access to oil cargo, and the company reportedly approved £5,000 in “hotel charges” for the agent during a trip to London.
A top SFO team comprised entirely of women led the Glencore inquiry.
Photo credits: The Guardian
These included, (above) from left to right: Sara Chouraqui, joint head of fraud, bribery and corruption and Victoria Jacobson, the prosecutor for Operation Azoth – codename for the Glencore probe – as well as department director Lisa Osofsky and case controller Liz Collery.
A Glencore official made a request for approximately £700,000 from the business’ Swiss cash desk the same year, purportedly for “establishing an office in South Sudan” soon after the country gained independence.
(With inputs from agencies)
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