Glencore International A.G. (Glencore) was part of Glencore plc, a multi-national commodity trading and mining firm headquartered in Switzerland. Glencore had operations and subsidiaries in various locations around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Africa, and South America.
According to the documents in this case, between 2007 and 2018, Glencore conspired with certain employees and agents to make more than $100 million in payments and other things of value to various intermediaries with the intent that a significant portion of these payments would be used to pay bribes to government officials in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Venezuela, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In West Africa, Glencore, through its UK subsidiaries, paid approximately $79.6 million to intermediary companies based in Nigeria and Cyprus with the intent for the payments to be used to pay bribes. These bribes included approximately $52 million paid to officials connected to the Nigerian state-owned oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, more that $21 million paid to officials in Cameroon, mroe than $4 million paid to officials in Ivory Coast, and over $1.5 million paid to officials in Equatorial Guinea. In all, Glencore secured approximately $224 million in profits in connection with the bribes paid in West Africa.
In Brazil, Glencore made a payment of approximately $147,202 to a Brazilian consultant, who, in turn, made payments to three officials connected with Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company. These bribes were made in exchange for a Glencore subsidiary having the opportunity to buy an oil cargo from Petrobras.
In Venezuela, Glencore made approximately $1,286,057 in payments to a Venezuelan intermediary company with the intent that the payment be used to bribe an official at Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. ("PDVSA"), Venezuela's state-owned oil company. The bribe was made in order to obtain payment priority for certain debts owed to Glencore by PDVSA. Ultimately, Glencore secured a total of approximately $11,981,164 in payments from PDVSA through the Venezuelan intermediary company.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Glencore paid, through its local subsidiaries, approximately $27,500,000 to third parties with the intent that a portion of the payments be used as bribes to DRC officials. These bribes were paid in order to reduce certain liabilities related to government audits and litigation costs related to the company's mining operations in the country. In all, Glencore was able to reduce its associated audit and litigation costs by at least $43 million.
On May 24, 2022, the DOJ filed a single count information in the Southern District of New York against Glencore alleging a conspiracy to violate the antibribery provisions of the FCPA. On the same date, the company entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ. Under the terms of the settlement, Glencore agreed to pay a criminal fine of $428,521,173, forfeiture of $272,185,792, and a mandatory assessment of $400. The DOJ agreed to offset $165,930,959 of the criminal fine for payments made to U.K. and Swiss authorities in parallel enforcement actions, and the DOJ further agreed to offset $90,728,597 of the forfeiture total for disgorgement paid in a parallel Commodities Futures Trading Commission enforcement action. Glencore also agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for a term of three years.
This enforcement action was part of a global settlement with the authorities in the U.S., U.K., and Brazil. In the U.S., Glencore agreed to pay over $1.1 billion to resolve the DOJ and CFTC’s investigations into violations of the FCPA and a commodity price manipulation scheme.
