GENEVA (AP) — For the first time in Switzerland, a multinational company faces a criminal trial Monday on charges of bribing a foreign government official, with alleged payments totaling about $5 million, to win lucrative oil industry contracts. to enter Angola.
Commodities trader Trafigura Group said on Sunday it planned to defend itself against allegations that its former parent company failed to take “reasonable and necessary” measures at the time to prevent illegal payments to a former employee of Angolan state oil company.
The case underlines new allegations of bribery in the commodities trading industry, which have ensnared other major participants such as Switzerland-based Glencore and Gunvor, which is based in Cyprus but has major operations in Switzerland.
Last December, Swiss federal prosecutors announced that the company and three people – a former high-ranking Trafigura employee, a former official of Angolan state oil company Sonangol, and an ex-Trafigura employee who acted as an intermediary – had been indicted for alleged roles in bribery. .
The former Angolan official is accused of taking bribes of more than 4.3 million euros and $604,000 from Trafigura Group between April 2009 and October 2011.
Trafigura said it has invested “significant resources” in strengthening its compliance program over a number of years. The defendants are entitled to a presumption of innocence as the trial unfolds in Switzerland.
The trial at the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona is expected to run until December 20, but could be extended into January.
Headquartered in Singapore, Trafigura operates in sectors including oil and petroleum, metals and mining, and gas and energy, and has more than 12,000 employees worldwide.
