London — A former Gunvor employee said he paid bribes to President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo via a presidential aide and Belgian firm Semlex to win Congolese oil contracts, according to a Swiss prosecution document. The employee said he also paid other bribes on behalf of Gunvor, a Geneva-based commodities and energy trading firm, to a state oil official and presidential aides to secure Ivory Coast oil deals. Pascal Collard, who was sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison term by a Swiss court on August 28 for corruption related to these oil deals, made the accusations in a plea bargain that meant he avoided serving time in jail or paying a fine. Collard said managers at Gunvor knew about the payments and approved them to win the deals between 2009 and 2011. Swiss prosecutors have said they are investigating whether Gunvor had any role in any corrupt practices or failures in corporate responsibility related to the deals. A Gunvor spokesperson said that no m...
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