Mining major Glencore to pay $180m to DR Congo to settle 'corruption claims'

Switzerland-based mining company Glencore will pay $180 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo to settle a series of corruption claims covering a period between 2007 and 2018. The development is the latest in Glencore'sseries of corruption-related payout aggregating up to $1.6 billion in fines this year.

Following an investigation by the US, British and Brazilian authorities, the company in May had admitted that it had bribed officials in several African nations including Democratic Republic of Congo.

Glencore,despite theclouds of corruption payouts dominating the skies of its assets,is forecasted to collect the rainy profits of nearly $3.2 billion this year.

In May, the US Department of Justice had said that Glencore conspired to pay around $27.5 million to third parties to secure "improper business advantages" in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while "intending a portion of the payments to be used as bribes".

Lately, a UK court last month ordered the company to pay more than £285m over bribes given in African nations that were found to be linked to its London-based commodities trading desk.

Glencore owns several assets in the country, including the Mutanda copper-cobalt mine and a controlling stake in Kamoto Copper Company, a large copper-cobalt project.

"Glencore is a long-standing investor in the DRC and is pleased to have reached this agreement to address the consequences of its past conduct," Glencore's chairman Kalidas Madhavpeddi said.

Glencore corruption row:Bribes given across Africa, Latin America

In May, Glencore also admitted to paying millions in bribes to officials in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South Sudan, Brazil and Venezuela.

Glencore's chairman has admitted "unacceptable practices" have taken place but that the firm today is "not the company it was".

Glencore is one of the world's largest commodities companies, employing around 135,000 people in more than 35 countries, including India, UAE, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan.

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