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Trafigura’s former chief operating officer has been sentenced to 32 months in prison after being found guilty of corruption in the first such prosecution of a top commodity trading executive.
Mike Wainwright, who served as chief operating officer from 2008 until last year, was sentenced by a Swiss court on Friday for paying more than €5mn in bribes to secure oil trading contracts in Angola between 2009 and 2011. Part of the 32-month sentence was suspended, with Wainwright ordered to serve at least 12.
Trafigura was found guilty of failing to prevent the corruption and ordered to pay more than $148mn in fines and compensation, according to Reuters. It is the first time a company has been convicted of bribery in Switzerland, which has long been a centre for the commodity trading industry.
The conviction will be heralded as a landmark moment by anti-corruption campaigners, who have long called for western courts to scrutinise the activities of commodity traders in frontier markets. It is also a further setback for Trafigura, which has been trying to move on from allegations of past corrupt dealing.
During the trial, prosecutors described Wainwright as “the linchpin of the scheme” and accused the British executive of having “used methods worthy of a seasoned criminal” to disguise his activities.
The payments were made via third parties to an Angolan government official in exchange for oil bunkerage and shipping contracts worth more than $143.7mn in profits, the prosecutors alleged.
Trafigura has previously said the anti-bribery and compliance systems in place at the company at the time met all legal requirements. Wainwright has previously rejected the allegations against him.
Trafigura and Wainwright were not immediately available for comment.
This is a developing story
