2024-03-20 23:02:03
Four years ago, the Swiss trading giant, Gunvor, was convicted of corruption during the award of oil contracts in Ivory Coast and Congo-Brazzaville. Today, the company is involved in a similar case in Ecuador. The Swiss NGO Public Eye even revealed new, unpublished documents on March 18, 2024 which show that Gunvor’s staff would have participated in the corruption of Ecuadorian officials.
Justice has been interested in the Gunvor case in Ecuador for several years now. On March 1, 2023, the Swiss trader was even fined a few million dollars in Geneva, but also in the United States, to 661 million dollars.
Between 2013 and 2020, the company is accused of paying multimillion-dollar bribes to Ecuadorian officials to obtain low-cost barrels of oil. In a fascinating investigation, l’ONG suisse Public Eye traces the complex circuits used to corrupt officials. She obtained unpublished documents which show the direct involvement of a senior manager of the Swiss trader.
It all started in 2009. At the time, Ecuador was very in debt. Petroecuador, the state oil company, then signs a contract with other foreign state-owned companies. Petroecuador obtains loans at very high rates which it repays by delivering barrels of oil. Agreements are often unbalanced, since between 2009 and 2016, Quito delivered five times more oil than necessary to repay its debts, a deficit of 5 billion dollars.
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$13 million paid to Ecuadorian official
But when it made an agreement with PTT International Trading, it was in fact Gunvor who was behind it. According to the NGO Public Eye, the Swiss company injected funds to guarantee the loans. In exchange, thanks to his shell company, the trader obtains very cheap oil. This front company also made it possible to happily shower several Ecuadorian officials with bribes, essential to setting up this embezzlement. More than 13 million dollars for example for the sole manager of international trade at Petroecuador.
And to ensure the proper execution of the deal, this famous shell company was even recommended by a very senior manager of Gunvor. In a letter published by Public Eye, he praised the “ reliability » of the company. To this day, he is still stationed in Geneva.
Also read: Ecuadorian Amazon: 6,300 barrels of oil spilled into an environmental reserve
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