Glencore’s former head of oil Alex Beard on Thursday pleaded not guilty to two bribery charges relating to the Swiss commodity trader’s operations in west Africa.
Beard, 59, denied two counts of conspiracy to make corrupt payments at London’s Southwark Crown Court.
Prosecutors allege Beard was involved in a conspiracy to make corrupt payments to government or state-owned oil company officials, in Nigeria between 2010 and 2014 and Cameroon between 2007 and 2014.
He appeared in the dock alongside Glencore’s former head of oil operations Andrew Gibson, who denied four counts of conspiracy to make corrupt payments in Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast.
Gibson, 66, also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of conspiracy to falsify documents required for an accounting purpose.
Four other ex-Glencore oil traders last year pleaded not guilty to related bribery charges and all six defendants are due to stand trial from October 2027.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin, editing by Sam Tabahriti)
