A former Glencore trader who said he was part of a bribery scheme to win oil contracts from Nigeria, transferred $300,000 (R4.4m) of company funds in 2014 to an intermediary who’d requested the cash to benefit a senior government official in the nation’s elections, US court filings show.
Anthony Stimler, who left the Switzerland-based commodity giant in 2019, pleaded guilty in New York on Monday to corruption and money-laundering charges. Prosecutors described in court filings how Stimler and others paid millions of dollars in bribes between 2007 and 2018 in several countries, including to officials at Nigerian National Petroleum, the state-owned oil company, on behalf of Glencore.
According to the US, a “co-conspirator” notified Stimler by e-mail in September 2014 that a “high-ranking Nigerian official” who was not identified had set conditions for companies wishing to secure crude shipments — NNPC’s customers “are given in advance $300,000 (R4.4m) each month/cargo and an amount which varies at the moment”.
The payments were to be made “in connection with a then-upcoming political election” in the West African nation, the prosecutors said in summarising the co-conspirator’s e-mail. The court filings don’t explain how the money was to be used in the election, or if it was spent for that purpose.
Prosecutors described in court filings how Stimler and others paid millions of dollars in bribes between 2007 and 2018 in several countries.
In October 2014, Stimler had a Glencore subsidiary wire $300,000 (R4.4m) to the Cyprus bank account of an unidentified intermediary company, which US officials said was used “to pay bribes to Nigerian officials”. Stimler then followed up with an e-mail to two co-conspirators. saying that managers at the Glencore subsidiary had authorised the payment and asked them to “please make sure on your side, NNPC performs”, court filings show.
Legislative and presidential elections that took place in March 2015, resulted in the defeat of the People’s Democratic Party. The PDP had held power in Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude producer, since the restoration of democracy in 1999.
Glencore declined to comment on the specific claims about money sought for use in Nigeria’s elections. Stimler has been permitted to remain free in the UK on a $500,000 (R7.4m) bond.
Court filings describe several other payments Stimler made, including a March 2014 transfer of $500,000 (R7.4m) to an intermediary company, with the intent to “pass on a portion of the payment to a foreign official in Nigeria to assist” Glencore in “obtaining business advantages, including eligibility to purchase oil cargoes from the NNPC”.
In May 2015, Stimler had a Glencore subsidiary wire about $50,000 (R740,164) to an intermediary company as an “advance payment” against delivery of a June crude oil cargo, after a co-conspirator had offered in April to pay a bribe to a Nigerian official to secure the shipment, court records show.
US prosecutors identified Stimler’s former employer only as “a commodity trading and mining company with global operations”. Stimler joined Glencore from a family-run petrochemical conversion business in 1999 to work in the West Africa oil division, according to an online biography.
“The conduct described in the plea is unacceptable and has no place in Glencore,” the company said in a statement on Monday. Glencore has “cooperated fully” with the US justice department and “other authorities in their investigations and continues to do so”, the company said.
Glencore disclosed in July 2018, that a subsidiary had received a subpoena from the justice department demanding documents relating to possible corruption since 2007 in its business in Nigeria, Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
— Bloomberg News. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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