Gunvor says it is not target of Swiss prosecutor in bribery probe

By Robert Harvey

LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - Global commodity trading house Gunvor confirmed on Tuesday that Swiss prosecutors had searched its office in Geneva, adding that the company itself was not the target of the investigation.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland said the search was part of a criminal investigation into bribery of foreign officials by persons unknown. The prosecutor said it was unable to provide further details on an ongoing investigation. 

Gunvor said in its statement it had reported issues to the relevant authorities a year ago, and said it is cooperating with authorities and had no knowledge of the Swiss investigation beyond the company itself not being the target.

The OAG told Reuters that Gunvor had not reported any issues to it.

The search of Gunvor's Geneva office was first reported by Public Eye as part of what the Swiss news outlet said was an investigation into Gunvor's operations in Gabon.

Gunvor said in its statement it had performed an internal investigation into its business in Gabon. 

This, it said, had identified what it believed to be fraudulent activity elsewhere, totalling $2 million over five years, which Gunvor alleged was perpetrated by an unnamed counterparty, an unnamed maritime service provider and an unnamed ex-employee.  

(Reporting by Robert Harvey and Shadia Nasralla in LONDON; Editing by David Goodman and Alexander Smith)