Swiss corruption trial of Trafigura set for December

The trial of will probe payments made by Trafigura in Angola Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

The Swiss trial of Trafigura Group and its former Chief Operating Officer Mike Wainwright on corruption charges has been scheduled for December — in a case that’s likely to shine a renewed light on allegations of wrongdoing in commodity trading.

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The Swiss federal prosecutor’s office announced the charges against Wainwright, Trafigura, and two other individuals late last year. The website of Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court was recently updated to show that the trial is scheduled to run for seven days in early December, with a further seven days shown as reserve dates. 

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It will be the first time such a senior executive at a commodity trading firm has faced trial on corruption charges. Wainwright spent his whole career at Trafigura and for the past decade was one of the top trio who ran the company, one of the world’s largest traders of oil, gas and metals, before stepping down as COO last year. 

A spokesperson for the Federal Criminal Court confirmed the trial date for the Trafigura case. A spokesperson for Trafigura declined to comment, while a lawyer for Wainwright didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Wainwright has denied the charges, while Trafigura — which pleaded guilty to separate corruption charges in the US in March — has said it will defend itself in court.

When they first announced the case, the Swiss prosecutors alleged that Wainwright approved bank transfers and cash payments totaling around $5 million to the head of a unit of Angola’s state oil company Sonangol between 2009 and 2011. The Angolan official was also charged, as was an intermediary who was described as a former Trafigura employee.

The case is one of several high-profile corruption cases to target individual commodity traders in recent months. Earlier this month, the UK’s top fraud agency charged Alex Beard, Glencore Plc’s former head of oil, and four other former employees with corruption.

And a New York court in February found former Vitol Group trader Javier Aguilar guilty on three bribery and money-laundering charges after a seven-week trial. 

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