Switzerland's highest court has found the commodities trading giant Trafigura and one of its top executives guilty of bribery relating to payments made for access to Angola's profitable oil market.
In a groundbreaking ruling, the court sentenced Trafigura's former British chief operating officer, Mike Wainwright, to 32 months in jail and imposed a $148m (£119m) fine on the company. This marks the first instance of an entire company facing charges in Switzerland's highest court and highlights the rarity of senior staff being convicted of bribery.
Trafigura's legal team stated that both the company and Wainwright plan to appeal the verdict, thus Wainwright was not immediately incarcerated.
The case against Trafigura involved a complex financial scheme with significant sums, dubious intermediaries, and a network of shell companies in offshore locations like the Virgin Islands. The court proceedings revealed that Trafigura used an intricate payment structure to funnel nearly $5m (£4.02m; €4.81) to an official from Angola's state oil company between 2009 and 2011.
Despite Trafigura's assertions of innocence and its claims of robust compliance and anti-corruption protocols, the court was swayed by compelling evidence, including various documents, emails, and memos. The prosecution painted a contrasting picture of elaborate means to circumvent anti-corruption measures, with the key figure being an intermediary known as "Mr. Non-Compliant" operating from an undisclosed Geneva location.
This legal precedent is set to reverberate across the global commodity trading sector, particularly in Geneva, a hub for Trafigura and other trading companies.
The coincidental fire at the Hotel des Bergues, where an Angolan official was reportedly hosted by Trafigura in 2008, adds a surreal dimension to the case.
Swiss authorities view this conviction as a pivotal moment signifying the end of outdated business practices. Prosecutors escalated the case to Switzerland's highest court, reserved for severe offenses like terrorism.
The consequences for Trafigura are substantial, with the company facing a hefty fine and Wainwright likely to serve a minimum of one year of his jail term, notwithstanding his pending appeal.