Stimler admitted to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and commit money laundering at a hearing in Manhattan Federal Court, New York.
A former United Kingdom-based trader for Glencore Plc, Anthony Stimler, has pleaded guilty to participating in an international scheme to bribe officials in Nigeria to win favourable contracts from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Stimler admitted to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and commit money laundering at a hearing in Manhattan Federal Court, New York, on Monday.
Court papers identified seven alleged co-conspirators from several countries in the bribery scheme, including UK, Nigeria, Mexico, Spain and Israel in a deal that ran from 2007 to 2018.
None of them was, however, charged or identified by name.
Prosecutors said millions of dollars in bribes were paid to officials in Nigeria, in exchange for NNPC awarding oil contracts and providing “more lucrative grades of oil on more favorable delivery terms.”
Stimler, a former employee of Glencore’s West Africa desk, was permitted to remain free in the UK on $500,000 bail.
In a statement Monday, Glencore confirmed that Stimler had been an employee.
The Anglo-Swiss mining company and one of the world’s largest commodity traders also said it has cooperated with probes by the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities.
“Glencore has co-operated fully with the department of justice and other authorities in their investigations and continues to do so,” the statement read.
“Glencore has taken a number of remedial measures in light of what it has learned during the investigation. Glencore has significantly enhanced its ethics and compliance programme over the last few years with a view to developing a best in class programme.”
In March, Emilio Jose Heredia Collado, former Glencore oil trader, pleaded guilty to manipulating an oil price benchmark, allowing the world’s largest commodities trader to profit from the price swings and enriching himself.
In November 2017, NNPC sought buyers from oil traders willing to pay $3.5 to $5billion and get its value in crude oil between five and seven years. Seven companies, including Glencore, contended for the deal.
Glencore emerged as one of the oil traders selected to lift Nigeria’s crude oil under various contracts, such as the crude oil term deal and the direct sale direct purchase scheme.
In 2018, NNPC acknowledged receipt of $94.279 million, about N28.85 billion, for a total of 1.9 million barrels of Nigerian crude oil.