Swiss courts put global trading giant on trial over Angola oil deals
Major trading company faces first-ever foreign bribery trial in Swiss legal history. Case focuses on multi-million dollar payments linked to Angolan oil sector contracts
A ground-breaking legal case starts in Geneva this monday‚ marking Switzerlands first-ever criminal prosecution of a global firm for overseas bribery charges (the trial targets major commodities dealer Trafigura Group)
The case centers on roughly $5-million in alleged pay-offs to get profitable oil-related deals in Angola. These under-the-table transactions supposedly involved a worker from Angolas state-run oil organization
Just yesterday Trafigura made its position clear: theyʼll fight back against claims that its former parent-company didnt put proper safeguards in place to stop illegal money transfers. The firm argues that their past control-systems were good enough to prevent wrongdoing
The swiss legal system takes a big step with this landmark case - showing how the country deals with international business corruption. This trial could set new standards for how global companies must handle their overseas operations
