Global group accused of bribing state-run oil company employees to secure cheap oil
Brazilian authorities are investigating whether JPMorgan Chase played a role in an alleged bribery and money-laundering scheme that dated back to 2011 and involved state-run oil company Petrobras, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and two law-enforcement sources.
The court documents viewed by Reuters include witness testimony from a former Petrobras fuel trader named Rodrigo Berkowitz. In his plea-bargain agreement with Brazilian authorities, he refers to two fuel cargoes that were sold to a JPMorgan unit. Brazil's federal police and JPMorgan declined to comment on the investigation. The attorney for Rodrigo Berkowitz did not respond to requests for comment. He has previously confirmed that his client is co-operating with US and Brazilian authorities investigating the commodity trading industry.
In November, Brazilian prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against Trafigura, alleging the Geneva-based trader and at least two subsidiaries paid Petrobras employees more than $1.5m in bribes in 2012 and 2013. A Freepoint spokesperson wrote in an e-mail at the time that the company “is strongly committed to following the laws everywhere we do business”. The company declined further comment.
JPMorgan largely exited physical commodity trading in 2014, selling its operations to Swiss trader Mercuria for $3.5bn in an all-cash deal.
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