Demonstrators take part in a union protest outside the main entrance of the casino in Zug, Switzerland, in 2018 on the occasion of the Glencore annual meeting. File photo by Alexandra Wey/EPA-EFE
Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Glencore, a Swiss-based mining company, settled a $180 million corruption case in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday.
The company announced in a press release that the agreement covers all current and future claims for alleged corruption between 2007 and 2018.
"This includes activities in certain group businesses that have been the subject of various investigations by the US Department of Justice and the National Financial Intelligence Unit and the Ministry of Justice of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others," Glencore said in the statement.
The United States Department of Justice in May said in a statement that Glencore admitted to corruption by conspiring to pay $27.5 million to illegally obtain business advantages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
โThe rule of law requires that there not be one rule for the powerful and another for the weak; one rule for the rich and one for the poor,โ said the US Attorney General. Merrick Wreath he said at the time.
"The Department of Justice will continue to apply its resources in these types of cases, regardless of the company or the individual."
The settlement announced Monday marks the latest in a series of corruption cases in which Glencore has agreed to pay more than $1.6 billion in fines. bbc reported.
More than $1.1 billion of those fines came after the company pleaded guilty in coordinated rulings in the United States, Britain and Brazil.
Under the agreement reached Monday, Glencore "committed to continue to implement its resolution" with the US Department of Justice.
Glencore's assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo include the Mutanda copper and cobalt mine and a majority stake in Kamoto Copper Co., one of the world's largest copper and cobalt producers.
"Glencore is a long-standing investor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is pleased to have reached this agreement to address the consequences of its past conduct," Glencore Chairman Kalidas Madhavpeddi said.
"Glencore has actively promoted its ethics and compliance program in the DRC in recent years and looks forward to continuing to work with DRC authorities and other stakeholders to facilitate good governance and ethical business practices in the country."
