Switzerland’s federal prosecutor has ordered commodities trader and miner Glencore to pay $152 million for failing to prevent bribery linked to the acquisition by a business partner of minority stakes in two mining companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2011.
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland said its decision, which orders Glencore International AG to pay a fine of two million Swiss francs ($2.35 million) and compensation to the Swiss state “amounting to” $150 million, wraps up its four-year criminal investigation.
“Glencore is held criminally liable of corporate liability … for failing to take all necessary reasonable and organizational measures to prevent the bribery of a Congolese public official by its business partner,” the prosecutor said in a statement on Monday, August 5, 2024.
The bribery by Glencore’s business partner took place when he acquired stakes from a state-owned mining company in the DRC in Central Africa for less than their value, the prosecutor said.
The agency did not name him.
The shares were taken over by the partner, and Glencore failed to ensure adequate management of the resulting risks.
The Swiss prosecutor said it took into account the fact that Glencore had cooperated with the authorities since the criminal investigation was opened in June 2020 when it reduced the penalty.
The prosecutor said it has also abandoned other proceedings against the international commodities giant, including questions about the renegotiations in 2008 and 2009 for a joint venture with the Congolese state mining company.
Glencore said in a statement that it does not admit the findings of the Swiss attorney general, but said it has agreed not to appeal against the summary penalty order to resolve the matter.
Glencore added that the Swiss ruling did not identify that any of its employees had knowledge of the bribery by the business partner and that the business did not benefit financially from the conduct.
Kalidas Madhavpeddi, the company’s chair, said the organization is “pleased” to have resolved the investigations. Madhavpeddi added that the company has “invested heavily” to improve its ethics and compliance program.
“We are committed to continuing to enhance the program and are working to embed ethics and compliance in each facet of our business, no matter where in the world we operate,” Madhavpeddi said.
The Serious Fraud Office in the U.K. charged the former chief executive of Glencore’s oil business and four other ex-employees with bribery on Thursday, over allegations that they made corrupt payments to government officials to win contracts in West Africa.
The group of five is accused of paying bribes over the award of oil contracts in Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast from 2007 to 2014.
Source: law360.co.uk