Bribery Case Snares Man Who Held Trafigura’s Secrets and Purse Strings
For decades, Trafigura's former chief operating officer has quietly been one of the most powerful people in commodity trading. This week he was charged with corruption in Switzerland.
The company's offices entrance in Geneva.
Photographer: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
For years, one of the most powerful people in commodity trading has been a quietly spoken English accountant who is barely known outside his own company. But this week, Trafigura Group’s Mike Wainwright was thrust into the spotlight after being charged by Switzerland’s top prosecutor for allegedly bribing an Angolan government official.
Wainwright, who has spent his whole career at Trafigura and was a protégé of charismatic founder Claude Dauphin, might be the most senior commodity trader ever to be charged with corruption. Despite the industry's reputation for brown envelopes and backhanders that goes back to the days of Marc Rich, very few of the most senior figures have ever faced prosecution.