Glencore to pay £281 million over African bribery scandal
glencore
The mining and commodities giant Glencore has been ordered to pay £281 million in fines, confiscated profits and punishment for 'sustained criminality,' making it thehighest fineever imposed on a firm in the UK.
During a hearing at Southwark Crown Court in London, a judge said that the UK subsidiary of the firm showed a 'highly corrosive' offence of bribe. The court hearing was on how the firm workers and agents gave bribes worth $27 million to a few unnamed officials in Nigeria, South Sudan, Ivory Coast and others creating harm valued at $128 million and £81 million at the time of the incident, the Guardian reported.
Due to the firm's admission of guilt after the bribery charges brought by the UK's Serious Fraud Office, there is a one-third reduction in the fine. The SFO stated that the workers used fake papers and flew cash bribes in private jets to Africa.
Glencore's chairman Kaliidas Madhavpeddi appeared in the court hearing. The chairman later released a statement sayingthat the company has improved its ethics and compliance.
The company will be paying $183 million as a fine, the largest amount to be paid in UK history. The firm will also be paying £93.5 million to SFO for confiscation pay along with paying £4.6 million for SFO fees.
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Glencore has already set aside $1.5 billion (£1.3 billion) to cover the expenses associated with bribery allegations. The firm will also be paying $1.1 billion to the US for breaking bribery rules and for manipulating commodity prices.
Beyond the monetary fines and additional reputational inquiry the firm faced, Iskander Fernandez, a partner for the firm said that the conviction for bribery will hinder businesses from competing for government contracts.
(With inputs from agencies)
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