Former Trafigura executive Mike Wainwright convicted in bribery case

The Swiss Supreme Court recently ruled that commodities trading giant Trafigura and one of its senior executives were guilty of bribing their way into the Angolan oil market. The case involved illicit payments made by the company to gain access to the Angolan oil market.

In this landmark case, the court sentenced Trafigura's former UK chief operating officer, Mike Wainwright, to 32 months in prison and fined the company $148 million (approximately £119 million). Wainwright was once a racing driver. This is the first time the Swiss Supreme Court has brought charges against an entire company, and it is also rare for a senior official to be convicted of bribery.

Trafigura's lawyers stated that the company and Wainwright intend to appeal the verdict, so Wainwright was not immediately imprisoned. The case against Trafigura is full of financial thriller elements: millions of dollars, dubious intermediaries, and a series of shell companies located in offshore tax havens such as the Virgin Islands.

The court heard that Trafigura's strategy was to establish a complex payment network through which an official of the Angolan national oil company received nearly $5 million (approximately £4.02 million, €4.81 million) in bribes between 2009 and 2011. Documents submitted to the court by Swiss prosecutors showed that these payments were authorized on Trafigura's own letterhead. The strategy appeared to have worked: the court heard that in the following years, Angola signed contracts with Trafigura worth nearly $144 million (approximately £115.93 million, €138.56 million).

Trafigura's lawyers appeared confident before the verdict, denying the bribery allegations. The company stated that its own compliance and anti-corruption measures had been independently assessed and deemed excellent. However, a large amount of evidence—including dozens of documents, emails, and memos—revealed a different picture: strict anti-corruption measures were formulated on paper, but in practice, a complex structure was established to circumvent them. At its heart was an intermediary known as "Mr. Non-Compliance," who worked in an anonymous office in Geneva.

The case will send a chill through global commodities brokers, especially in Geneva, where Trafigura and many other commodities trading companies are headquartered. Coincidentally, the night before the verdict was announced, a fire broke out at the five-star Hotel Beau-Rivage. Court documents showed that in 2008, an Angolan official had been put up at the hotel at Trafigura's expense.

Swiss federal prosecutors hope that this case will serve as a symbol that the old way of doing business is finally over. They brought the case to the Swiss Supreme Court, which specializes in the most serious criminal cases, such as terrorism offenses. Trafigura now faces a huge fine, while Wainwright, who listened to the verdict in court and denied the charges, was told that he must serve at least one year of his 32-month sentence. However, he was not immediately detained because he intends to appeal.