Geneva oil trader fined nearly $100 million for Congo, Ivory Coast corruption

Geneva oil trader Gunvor has been ordered to pay almost $100 million over corruption in the Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast, Swiss prosecution authorities said Thursday. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said in a statement that Gunvor had shown "serious deficiencies in its internal organisation" and had "failed to prevent the bribery of public officials in the Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast between 2008 and 2011."

It added that the Geneva-based commodities trader had been "convicted of failing to take all the organisational measures that were reasonable and necessary" to prevent corruption aimed at "securing access to the petroleum markets in the countries." The OAG pointed out that Gunvor had no code of conduct nor a compliance programme, and had offered no training to raise awareness about the risk of corruption.

It "seems that Gunvor accepted that a risk of corruption was inherent in the company's commercial activities, at least in the relevant markets," it said. In its ruling, which followed a previous judgement by Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court, the OAG ordered Gunvor to pay a fine of 94 million Swiss francs ($95 million, 85 million euros). That amount includes 4.0 million francs to be paid to the canton of Geneva, where the company is based.

The remaining 90 million francs, corresponding to "the total profit that Gunvor made from the business in question" in the two countries, were to be paid to the Swiss Confederacy, it said. The OAG also said the case was not over. "Other individuals, including a former employee of the company and certain financial intermediaries, are currently under investigation, notably on suspicion of bribing foreign public officials, money laundering and criminal mismanagement," it said.

Gunvor, which is headquartered in Nicosia but has its main trading offices in Geneva, acknowledged in a statement that it had "admitted guilt with respect to having had organisational shortcomings during the years 2008-11." This shortcoming, it said, meant it "did not prevent an ex-employee from undertaking corruptive activities in Congo-Brazzaville and Ivory Coast." But the company stressed that "there was absolutely no conscious or desired involvement of employees or members of management in these activities." "No current employees or businesses of Gunvor Group are involved in any related ongoing litigation or investigations," it said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019