The U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into international commodities trading companies has resulted in 20 convictions of individuals, total fines, forfeitures, and penalties of more than $1.7 billion, and six corporate resolutions.
The long-running investigation, which began in 2017, was into international commodities trading companies that paid millions of dollars in bribes to win business with state-owned and state-controlled oil companies in Latin America and Africa. The bribes to corrupt government officials secured billions of dollars in business with state-owned enterprises.
The investigation was done by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit, in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country, the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and the FBI.
As a result of this work, the Criminal Division has entered into six corporate resolutions, which have included mandatory cooperation, disclosure, and compliance obligations and resulted in total fines, forfeitures, and other penalties of more than $1.7 billion. They are:
• In September 2020, Sargeant Marine Inc., an asphalt company based in Boca Raton, Florida, with an asphalt trading arm, pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to schemes to bribe government officials in Brazil, Venezuela, and Ecuador;
• In December 2020, Vitol Inc., entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in the Eastern District of New York, admitting to schemes to pay bribes to government officials in Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico;
• In May 2022, Glencore International AG pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to a scheme to pay bribes to government officials in seven countries across Africa and Latin America;
• In December 2023, Freepoint Commodities LLC entered into a DPA in the District of Connecticut and admitted to a scheme to bribe government officials in Brazil;
• In March, Gunvor S.A. pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to a scheme to bribe government officials in Ecuador; and
• Today, Trafigura Beheer B.V. pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Florida to a scheme to bribe government officials in Brazil.
These corporate resolutions are connected to the guilty pleas of 19 culpable individuals, including six government officials, eight corrupt intermediaries, and five trading company employees. In addition, last month, Javier Aguilar, a former trader at Vitol, was convicted on FCPA and money laundering charges in the Eastern District of New York.