Glencore announced it is under criminal investigation by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) over corruption allegations, adding to the growing list of scrutiny the multinational commodity trading and mining company is facing.
On June 19, Glencore said it had been informed by the OAG that the office was probing Glencore International “for failure to have the organizational measures in place to prevent alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Glencore added that it will cooperate with the investigation.
Other investigations
In December 2019, Glencore announced it was under investigation by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office. In confirming the investigation, the SFO said its focus was on “suspicions of bribery in the conduct of business by the Glencore group of companies, its officials, employees, agents, and associated persons.”
In April 2019, Glencore announced the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission launched an investigation into whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and/or CFTC regulations through corrupt practices in connection with commodities.
In July 2018, Glencore Ltd, a subsidiary of Glencore plc, announced it received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice to produce documents and other records concerning potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and U.S. anti-money laundering statutes. The company said the requested documents “relate to the Glencore Group’s business in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Venezuela from 2007 to present.”
Glencore was cited hundreds of times in the Panama Papers. It then came under heavy criticism in the Paradise Papers—the sequel to the Panama Papers—which revealed Glencore loaned tens of millions of dollars to Dan Gertler, an Israeli businessman with close ties to Joseph Kabila, former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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