UK's Serious Fraud Office Says 11 Ex-Glencore Employees Could Be Charged in Bribery Probe

Up to 11 former employees of Swiss global commodity trading and mining company Glencore could be investigated in the U.K. under charges of bribery in five African countries, Alexandra Healy, an attorney for the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said Oct. 24 in a London court, Bloomberg reported. The alleged scheme involved more than $28 million in bribes, though the SFO didn't say if all 11 were being investigated for bribery. Glencoe told Bloomberg the 11 are former employees. Healy said the SFO will make individual charging decisions likely by the end of April. In DOJ's parallel investigation, two former Glencore traders, Anthony Stimler and Emilio Heredia, pleaded guilty, Bloomberg said. The SFO announced in May that Glencore was expected to pay around $1.5 billion to settle investigations into bribery and price manipulation charges revolving around deals in the U.S., U.K. and Brazil.