Gunvor to pay $661M to settle FCPA violations in Ecuador

Oil barrels

Swiss-based oil trader Gunvor will pay more than $661 million as part of a plea agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) involving a long-running scheme to bribe officials in Ecuador to secure oil contracts.

As part of the plea agreement entered into U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Friday, Gunvor will pay a criminal penalty of nearly $375 million and forfeit about $287 million in ill-gotten gains, the DOJ said in a press release. Gunvor will pay approximately $98 million in penalties to the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland and reached an agreement with Ecuadorean authorities as well.

The DOJ said the sentence “includes credits of up to one-quarter of the criminal fine each for amounts Gunvor pays to resolve investigations by Swiss and Ecuadorean authorities into the same misconduct, so long as the payments are made within one year of today’s date.”

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