Trafigura Admits Its Founder Claude Dauphin Approved Bribes

Commodity trading behemoth Trafigura Group has admitted that its founder and former Chief Executive Officer Claude Dauphin approved bribe payments for oil deals in Brazil, the first time one of the industry’s bosses has been implicated in a sweeping series of US corruption cases.

Trafigura last week became the latest of the world’s largest commodity traders to admit to paying bribes to win business, when it pleaded guilty in a Miami court. The details of Dauphin’s involvement were contained in a statement of facts in the plea agreement with the US government that the company admitted was “true and correct.” ...