Glencore gets 30-day ultimatum to pay  $313m fine for bribing NNPC officials, four others

Glencore, a United Kingdom commodities firm has been directed  to pay more than $313 million within 30 days to a UK Court  for using bribes to secure its oil profits in Nigeria and four other African countries. The order came months after the Anglo-Swiss company announced it had reached deals with authorities in the United States, Britain and Brazil to resolve corruption allegations.

But Glencore’s anti-bribery and corruption policies were “largely ignored because corruption was condoned at a very senior level,” said prosecutor Alexandra Healy.

Glencore Energy UK Limited, which has 30 days to pay, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore UK Limited and part of the multinational mining and commodities trading group, which operates in more than 35 countries, employing some 135,000 people. Its parent company confirmed that it would pay a total of £280,965,092.95

The fraud office said the penalty is the largest for one of its cases and is the first time a company was convicted for authorizing bribery instead of just failing to prevent it under a 2010 law.

“The facts demonstrate not only significant criminality but sophisticated devices to disguise it,” Judge Peter Fraser of the Southwark Crown Court said in sentencing Glencore, adding that the bribery was “endemic” among traders and took place over an extended period. “Other companies tempted to engage in similar corruption should be aware that similar sanctions lie ahead.”