British Regulator Stops Investigation Against ENRC – Kommersant
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Yesterday, 24 August, the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) stopped investigation against Kazakh mining company ENRC. She was suspected of fraud, corruption and bribery. The SFO has now said it is closing the investigation because “there is not enough evidence to hold accountable that could be used in court.” ENRC said it was pleased that “the SFO eventually dropped the investigation.”
Investigation began back in 2013. Among other things, the company was suspected of paying bribes to obtain lucrative contracts for the development of fields in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2009-2013. During the investigation, ENRC filed lawsuits against SFO and regulator employees. According to the non-governmental organization Spotlight on Corruption, ENRC’s lawsuit against SFO could have contributed to the regulator’s termination of the investigation.
On the same day, the SFO dropped its investigation against the Australian-British mining company Rio Tinto. She was suspected of involvement in corruption in Guinea. In this case, the regulator said it was “not in the public interest to seek prosecution in the UK”. At the same time, the SFO noted that the Australian police continue to investigate this case.
Last year, a British court in an SFO lawsuit ordered mining company Glencore to pay a $310 million fine for paying bribes to obtain mining contracts in Africa.
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