Trafigura has pleaded guilty to charges by US prosecutors of bribery in Brazil and has agreed to pay $127mn in fines and forfeited profits, in the latest in a series of corruption cases against the world’s largest commodity trading houses.
Under the plea agreement, Trafigura will pay $80.5mn in fines and $46.5mn in forfeited profits after paying approximately $19.7mn in “corrupt commissions” to the benefit of Brazilian officials in a bid to “secure improper advantages” on oil contracts between 2003 and 2014.
The company pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to court documents.