Glencore, sentenced to pay 660.7 million euros for concocting a global bribery scheme

MADRID, 28 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The mining and trading company of raw materials Glencore has been sentenced to pay 700 million dollars (660.7 million euros) in punitive damages for organizing a bribery scheme around the world.

A federal court in New York has imposed this sentence after reaching an agreement with the Prosecutor's Office that implied that Glencore pleaded guilty in May to violating the Law against Corrupt Foreign Practices.

Thus, the Swiss company must pay a fine of 428.5 million dollars (404.4 million euros) plus another 272.2 million dollars (256.9 million euros) for criminal confiscation.

This sanction is part of a broader process that has led to the disbursement by Glencore of 1,500 million dollars (1,416 million euros) to close the open investigations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil for bribery and market manipulation. As a result, Glencore pleaded guilty to a list of charges ranging from corruption to bribery in South America and Africa.

The Prosecutor's Office then accused Glencore of paying more than 100 million dollars (94.4 million euros) in bribes to officials in Brazil, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela.

This reported to the company 315 million dollars (297.3 million euros) for the favors received in return. A London judge issued a fine of 333 million dollars (314.3 million euros) for offering such gifts and accessing oil deposits irregularly.

In addition, Glencore admitted to having manipulated fuel prices in the US market. For this last crime, he had to pay 486 million dollars (458.7 million euros) in Connecticut.