Glencore may face a British fraud probe into alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bloomberg reported Friday, sending the Swiss miner's share price tumbling. The newswire, citing people with knowledge of the matter, reported that Britain's Serious Fraud Office was set to launch a formal bribery investigation into Glencore that will centre on its dealings with Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler and DRC President Joseph Kabila.
The unnamed sources told Bloomberg that the SFO was looking into the matter and planning to seek formal approval for a full fraud probe. Bloomberg added that the SFO's interest in Glencore arose from its six-year investigation into whether Kazakh mining company Eurasian Resources paid off Congolese officials with Gertler's assistance, according to the sources.
An SFO spokeswoman told AFP that they could neither confirm nor deny the report, while Glencore declined to comment.
Glencore, which is based in Switzerland but listed on the London stock market, saw its share price slump more than seven percent in reaction to the report. In late afternoon London deals, the stock was down 6.42 percent at 372.30 pence compared with Thursday's closing level.
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