Zurich (AFP) – A Swiss court convicted Trafigura and three people linked to the commodities trading firm of corruption in Angola, in what campaigners hailed Friday as a “historic” first in Switzerland. A Trafigura statement expressed disappointment at the ruling and said it was reviewing the judgment. The lawyer for one former director with the company said he would appeal his conviction.
The group, which is particularly active in oil trading, was fined 3 million Swiss francs ($3.2 million) for failing to properly monitor the activities of its intermediaries, the federal court said Friday. Michael Wainwright, Trafigura’s former operational director, was sentenced to 32 months, of which he must serve 12 months in prison. Prison terms were also handed down to a person who served as an intermediary for the payment of bribes, and to a former agent of an Angolan state company.
A statement from Trafigura said: “We are disappointed by today’s decision in Switzerland concerning Trafigura Beheer BV and are reviewing the matter.” Trafigura has invested significant resources in strengthening its compliance programme over a number of years. Wainwright’s lawyer, Daniel Kinzer, told AFP: “Mike Wainwright was convicted on the basis of very general assumptions, without taking into account elements which demonstrate that he was not involved.” Wainwright “maintains that he did not order or facilitate any payment for corrupt purposes and intends to prove it before the Court of Appeal,” he added.
The case concerns the payment of bribes to a former executive of an Angolan state-owned distribution company in exchange for ship chartering and bunkering contracts. Swiss federal prosecutors referred it to the court in Bellinzona, in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland, in 2023. Contacted by AFP, the office of the federal prosecutors said they were “satisfied” by the verdict.
“This is the first conviction by a court in Switzerland of a company for acts of corruption of foreign public officials,” the office said. It was “a strong signal of the determination to fight against all forms of transnational corruption,” it added. Anti-corruption campaigners Public Eye welcomed the convictions. “This is the first time in Swiss history that a trading company has been convicted of corruption in a public trial,” it said. It added: “The verdict is a warning to the entire commodities industry, as Swiss justice seems increasingly determined to trace the chain of responsibility.”
In March 2024, Trafigura, based in Singapore but with a significant presence in Geneva, agreed to plead guilty in the United States and pay $127 million over allegations of corruption in Brazil. Switzerland is home to some 900 commodities trading firms, located primarily in Geneva and Lugano. Founded in 1993, Trafigura employs 13,000 people worldwide and made a net profit of almost $2.8 billion in its 2023/2024 fiscal year ending September 30.
© 2024 AFP
