TRAFIGURA’s former chief operating officer was sentenced to 32 months in prison
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The former chief operating officer of Trafigura was sentenced to 32 months in prison for bribing foreign officials.
Mike WainWright served as chief operating officer from 2008 to last year. From 2009 to 2011, he signed a bribe of more than 5 million euros in Angola to ensure Angola’s oil trade contract. After being suspended, Wimmed ordered at least 12 times.
Trafigura was sentenced to no sufficient system to prevent bribes and was ordered to pay more than $ 148 million in fines and compensation. This is the first time that a company has been convicted in Switzerland trial due to bribery related allegations.
Anti -corruption activists will be convicted as a milestone moment, and they have long called on the Swiss courts to review the activities of many product traders in the country. Trafigura registered in Singapore, but its CEO and most senior management are located in Geneva.
The decision marks the further setbacks of Trafigura, and the decision has been trying to continue from the allegations of past corruption transactions. Last year, it acknowledged the “corruption committee” that paid nearly $ 20 million in Brazil in the United States.
The company said it was “disappointed” for Switzerland’s decision. It said: “Trafigura has invested a lot of resources to strengthen its compliance plan for many years.” “This includes compulsory training for all employees and continuously strengthen its compliance policies, procedures and control.”
During the trial, the prosecutor described WainWright as “the key to the plan” and accused British executives of “using experienced criminals” to cover up his activities.
Prosecutors said that these payments were conducted by Angola government officials in the third direction in exchange for oil bunkers and transportation contracts, worth more than $ 140 million in profits. Angola officials and third parties were also convicted.
Founded in 1993, Trafigura was founded in 1993. At that time, French merchant Claude Dauphin and four other executives were separated from Mark Rich, the godfather of Mark Rich, the godfather of the trading industry. (Marc Rich) was wanted by the US authorities by the US authorities at the time because of tax evasion and violating Iranian sanctions.
Trafigura, under the leadership of Dauphin, died in 2015. Over the years, Trafigura has occupied the supply of oil products in the country, which has generated the profit of the bumper, which supports the company to transform from a crumbling businessman to a global commodity giant.
WainWright joined Trafigura in 1996 and is one of the most senior people in the company in the past two decades.
WainWright’s lawyer said his client would appeal to the verdict. He said: “The court ruled that Mr. WainWright was guilty based on the general assumptions and ignored the main evidence that he had not participated in any bribe plan.” “Mr. Wen Wright insisted that he had never done or helped to pay with corruption.”
According to Switzerland law, the convicted person will continue to benefit from the consequences of innocence until any appeal procedure is completed. If he plans to appeal failure to overthrow the verdict, only WainWright needs to serve.
Trafigura did not disclose whether it would appeal to the decision, but just said it was “reviewing the matter.”
