Commodities trader Gunvor held criminally liable for corruption
The Geneva-based trading company Gunvor has been ordered to pay almost CHF94 million ($94.6 million), including a fine of CHF4 million over bribery in Africa.
The commodities trader failed to prevent its employees and agents from bribing public officials between 2008 and 2011 in order to gain access to the petroleum markets in the Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said in a statement on Thursday.
The compensation of almost CHF90 million corresponds to the total profit that Gunvor made at the time conducting business in the two African countries.
“The investigation revealed that during the period under scrutiny, Gunvor had taken no organisational measures to prevent corruption in its business activities: the company did not have a code of conduct to give a clear signal and guidance to its employees on their activities, nor did it have a compliance programme,” it said.
“In addition, it did not have an internal audit procedure and had not appointed a staff member to take charge of identifying, analysing or reducing the risk of corruption. Moreover, no internal guidelines were in place and no training was offered to raise employee awareness and reduce the risks associated with corruption. It therefore seems that Gunvor accepted that a risk of corruption was inherent in the company's commercial activities, at least in the relevant markets.”
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