The firm did not make Wainwright and Larocca available for comment and the two men did not respond emails from Reuters. “Trafigura has a zero tolerance policy on bribery and corruption.” “Any suggestion that Trafigura’s current management knew that its payments would be used to make improper payments to employees of Petrobras is not correct,” the statement said. Trafigura said in a statement that it was aware of reports of Herz’ testimony but had not been contacted by Brazilian authorities in relation to the allegations. Petrobras said it had immediately begun internal inquiries after learning about Herz’s plea bargain testimony and had removed employees named in the testimony from their positions. Taylor, who was also CEO at the time of the alleged incidents, did not respond to a LinkedIn message sent by Reuters. In a statement, Vitol said it would not be appropriate to comment on Herz’s testimony “beyond reiterating our zero tolerance policy in respect of bribery and corruption and our policy of cooperating fully with the relevant authorities in all the jurisdictions in which we operate.” Prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment. The lawyer’s legal offices did not pick up multiple phone calls. However, defendants in Brazil are generally given reduced sanctions in return for their cooperation.Ī lawyer for Herz did not respond to requests for comment on Facebook and LinkedIn. Reuters could not determine what advantage Herz gains by striking the plea bargain deal with prosecutors. Herz said one of his business partners, a close personal associate of Taylor, informed him about the Vitol executive’s involvement in the bribery scheme.

Herz provided no documentary evidence specifically linking Taylor to the allegedly illegal conduct.

Herz provided prosecutors with dozens of pages of emails and bank statements, reviewed by Reuters, that offered extensive detail on the bribery scheme as a whole. If his accusations are proven, Herz’s testimony would up the ante in an ongoing Brazilian investigation of the commodity trading industry - codenamed Operation Without Limits - as it brings accusations of wrongdoing to the top echelons of some of the sector’s largest companies. Trafigura co-head of oil trading José Larocca and chief operating officer Mike Wainwright were also implicated in the alleged scheme.Īccording to the documents, which summarize a plea deal reached in August with federal prosecutors, businessman Carlos Henrique Nogueira Herz testified that the executives knew of millions of dollars in bribes paid to Petrobras employees.Īn oil industry insider with decades of experience, Herz pleaded guilty in August to Brazilian prosecutors’ charges that he formed a “criminal group” that used his contacts in the sector to funnel bribes from Vitol and Trafigura to Petrobras employees from 2011 to 2014 in return for sweetheart fuel trades benefiting the commodity trading firms. The individuals named in the previously unreported documents are Ian Taylor, the chairman of Vitol, as well as Claude Dauphin, the former chief executive and chairman of Trafigura. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russia May 25, 2018. FILE PHOTO: Chairman of Vitol Group Ian Taylor attends a session of the St.

Mike middleman