Glencore oil trader charged

Alex Beard, the former head of oil at Glencore, and four other former executives have been charged with corruption by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in connection with bribery schemes involving oil contracts in West Africa. Beard, who was a top executive at Glencore from 2007 until 2019, faces accusations of conspiring to make corrupt payments to government officials in Nigeria and Cameroon between 2007 and 2014. The charges against Beard and his colleagues stem from a broader investigation initiated in 2019, revealing systemic bribery and market manipulation practices at the company. The other charged individuals include Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga, and Martin Wakefield, each facing multiple counts related to corrupt payments. Glencore itself previously admitted to corruption and market manipulation in 2022, agreeing to pay substantial fines for its actions in several countries. The defendants are scheduled to appear in court on September 10, 2024.