Glencore and Bribery – Gertler, and Speculation Re: an Attorney’s Activities in Ukraine

REFILE-UPDATE 2-Britain’s fraud office opens investigation into Glencore

Dec 5 (Reuters) – Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched an investigation into Glencore concerning “suspicions of bribery,” the company said on Thursday.

Glencore, one of the world’s biggest commodity traders, is already subject to a U.S. Department of Justice enquiry in connection with corruption in Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela and Nigeria.

The SFO confirmed https://www.sfo.gov.uk/2019/12/05/sfo-confirms-investigation-into-suspected-bribery-at-glencore-group-of-companies it was investigating the conduct of business by the Glencore group of companies, its officials, employees, agents and associated persons, but said it could not comment further on a live investigation.

Glencore has said it will cooperate with the investigation.

The company’s shares dropped 6% to 223.9 pence following the announcement, pushing it to the bottom of London’s blue-chip index.

Over the course of this year, Glencore’s shares have fallen more than 20%, pressured by broader concerns about safety and sustainability in Democratic Republic of Congo.

CEO Ivan Glasenberg told investors earlier this week he expected to step down next year once a new management team is in place. (Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Alistair Smout, Julia Payne and Barbara Lewis in London; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Jane Merriman)

Glencore hit by SFO bribery probe; pound hits 31-month high – business live

NEWSFLASH: Mining and commodities giant Glencore is being probed by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office.

In a statement to the City, Glencore says:

Glencore has been notified today that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has opened an investigation into suspicions of bribery in the conduct of business of the Glencore group.

Glencore will co-operate with the SFO investigation.

The SFO also released a brief statement, confirming it is looking into “suspected bribery” at Glencore.

Following the announcement by Glencore PLC, the SFO confirms it is investigating suspicions of bribery in the conduct of business by the Glencore group of companies, its officials, employees, agents and associated persons.

As this is a live investigation we cannot comment further.

Shares in Glencore, which both produces raw materials and trades them around the globe, have promptly slumped by 6% in London.

Eighteen months ago, Bloomberg reported that the SFO was concerned about Glencore’s activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its links to Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler.

ADDITIONAL READING:

Glencore shares tumble after Serious Fraud Office opens bribery probe

The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into Glencore over suspicions of bribery, sending its shares down more than 6pc. 

The FTSE 100 miner said it would co-operate with the probe. The SFO said that it could comment further as it is a live process. 

It comes after the company was served a subpoena for documents by the US Department of Justice last year relating to corruption and money laundering concerns.

Shares plunged 6.6pc to 222.55p. 

Glencore says UK fraud office opens probe into ‘suspicions of bribery’

Dec 5 (Reuters) – Global diversified miner Glencore Plc GLEN.L said on Thursday that Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched an investigation into “suspicions of bribery” in the conduct of business at Glencore Group.

The SFO confirmed that it was investigating the conduct of business by the Glencore group of companies, its officials, employees, agents and associated persons.

Glencore said it will cooperate with the investigation.

The company’s shares dropped 6% to 223.9 pence, pushing it to the bottom of London’s bluechip index .FTSE.

BREAKING: SFO Launches Bribery Probe Into Mining Giant Glencore

Law360, London (December 5, 2019, 1:54 PM GMT) — The U. K. ‘s Serious Fraud Office is investigating Glencore PLC  over possible bribery, adding to the mining giant’s woes as U. S. authorities 

probe allegations of corruption in its African and South American operations. The 

Serious Fraud Office said it is examining suspicions of bribery “in the conduct of 

business by the Glencore group of companies” and its officials and employees. (AP)

Glencore and the U. K. ‘s white collar agency confirmed the investigation in separate statements Thursday. The SFO said it was looking into suspicions of bribery “in the 

conduct of business by the Glencore group of companies, its officials, employees, 

agents and associated. . .

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2018

Glencore Said to Face U.K. Bribery Probe Over Congo Dealings

The U.K.’s white-collar crime prosecutor is preparing to open a formal bribery investigation into Glencore Plc and its work with Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler and the leader of Democratic Republic of Congo, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Investigators at the Serious Fraud Office plan to seek formal approval for a full probe into Glencore’s dealings in Congo, said the people, who declined to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Since Glencore is based in Switzerland, the prosecutor would have to show it has jurisdiction because the company’s shares are traded in London.

Congo is “absolutely calm” about the matter, said government spokesman Lambert Mende.

“We are ready to take all the blows and we are ready to fight back,” Mende said by phone Friday. Any final decision on whether to proceed with a formal probe will be up to a committee of SFO senior staff, including interim director, Mark Thompson.

Spokespeople for the SFO, Glencore and Gertler declined to comment.

Glencore shares fell 17.50 pence, or 4.4 percent, to 380.35 pence at 4:37 p.m. in London, after falling as much as 8.7 percent.

“The uncertainty of the fraud investigation that could come is just that, uncertain,” Hunter Hillcoat, a mining analyst for Investec Ltd., said by phone. “I don’t know where this is going to end up. It’s not even started yet. This wasn’t priced in, but I don’t think it’ll weigh on the share price unless there’s more smoke to add to the fire.”

Gertler and his close friend, DRC President Joseph Kabila, have been implicated in previous British and American bribery investigations. The U.S. imposed sanctions on Gertler in December, saying he’d used his friendship with Kabila to corruptly build his fortune. The SFO has been scrutinizing the men’s relationship with a Kazakh mining company for six years. Congolese officials have described the sanctions as unjust.

U.S. hedge fund manager Och-Ziff Capital Management LLC, which funded some of Gertler’s operations in Congo, admitted in 2016 to having conspired to bribe Congolese officials with the help of an unidentified Israeli businessman. Gertler has denied any wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged. Glencore cut ties with him and bought out his stakes in their joint ventures shortly after the Och-Ziff settlement.

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