Large, loosely-explained payments to a third-party intermediary hired to facilitate business in Africa did not raise “red flags” at Trafigura, its chief financial officer told a Swiss court trying the commodity trader for bribery on Thursday. Pierre Lorinet, who is not a defendant in the case, appeared as a witness on behalf of Trafigura, which Swiss prosecutors accuse of having inadequate controls in place to stop serious acts of corruption.
Trafigura had a well-established relationship with Consultco. “If are in line with the contractual agreements, I don’t see why there would be a red flag specifically related to these payments . . . they are in line with a signed agreement that has been validated by the legal department, by the trader, by the boss of the business et cetera.” During the period, Trafigura was making as many as 200 payments a day group-wide, a third of which were for more than $500,000, Lorinet said.