A mining company based in Switzerland, called Glencore said it would pay $180 million to DR Congo to settle corruption charges.
From 2007 to 2018, 11 years are covered by the contract.
It’s the latest case of corruption, for which it has already agreed to pay over $1.6 billion in fines this year.
In May, it admitted that it had paid bribes to officials in DR Congo and other African countries (DRC).
It happened after the US, UK, and Brazilian authorities looked into corruption claims in Latin America.
Even with the fines, Glencore will make record profits of around $3.2 billion this year.
During different investigations of the miner’s work in the DRC from 2007 to 2018, they found evidence of bribery.
In May, the US Justice Department said Glencore had agreed to pay about $27.5 million to third parties through a corrupt scheme. Use money as bribes in the DRC to get “illegal business advantages.”
Assets across DR Congo
Glencore owns a number of assets in the country, including the Mutanda copper-cobalt mine. As well as a controlling stake in KCC, a large copper-cobalt investment.
The mining company said the deal with the Congolese government would include “all present and future claims. That could be the result of any wrongdoing “by the Glencore Group between 2007 and 2018.
The chairman of Glencore, Kalidas Madhavpeddi, said, “Glencore has been investing in the DRC for a long time and is glad to have come to this agreement to deal with the consequences of its past actions.”
In May, Glencore admitted to giving government officials in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South Sudan, Brazil, and Venezuela millions of dollars in bribes.
Courts have fined Glencore more than once. And because of bribes in Africa, a UK court told the company to pay more than £285 million. Last month, authorities linked the company’s commodities trading desk in London to the bribes.
People talk about the way of life they grew up in at Glencore. For example, Mr. Justice Fraser said that bribes were a normal part of the business at the West Africa desk.
The chairman of Glencore said that there were “unacceptable practices.” But that the company is “not the same as it was.”
Glencore is one of the largest companies that sell commodities around the world. About 135,000 people work for it in more than 35 countries.
Glencore to pay damages for taking bribes for oil deals in Africa
In November, a UK branch of the mining company Glencore was told to pay more than £275 million. Simply because it had bribed officials in African countries to access oil.
Between 2011 and 2016, the company paid $26 million to agents and officials of crude oil companies in Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Ivory Coast.
Prosecutors said that Glencore Energy UK employees and agents used private jets to move money to pay bribes.
In June, Glencore Energy UK pleaded guilty to seven corruption crimes and said they were wrong.
At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Peter Fraser told the company it had to pay a fine of £182.9 million and that £93.5 million could be taken from it.
Although, the subsidiary admitted that it didn’t do enough to stop Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan agents from taking bribes to get oil contracts. In addition to the five other bribery charges.
