Swiss prosecutor investigates Ecuador bribery scandal

State-owned Petroecuador (archive picture) is a significant part of the Ecuadorian economy. It produced more than 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2019. Keystone/Guillermo Legaria

The Swiss justice authorities have opened a criminal probe into a suspected kickback scheme in Ecuador involving commodity trading companies in Geneva.

The proceedings are aimed at clarifying “whether in relation to this complex of facts any offences could have been committed on Swiss soil”, the Office of the Attorney General said in a statementExternal link on Wednesday.

The office said its investigation was based on court documents issued in the United States about a former employee (who later worked as a consultant) of a group of Swiss-based oil trading companies allegedly involved in bribery and money laundering.

The presumption of innocence applies to all those potentially involved the office added – but it declined to give further information.

The NGO Public EyeExternal link has welcomed the announcement by the prosecutor’s office but it criticised the Swiss government for its alleged refusal to take action to stem “obvious risks of corruption by the Swiss commodity sector.”

In April, a former representative for the commodities giant Gunvor pleaded guilty to helping channel more than $22 million (CHF20.3 million) in bribes to high-level officials in Ecuador in exchange for lucrative contracts with the state-run oil company.