Billionaire former Glencore oil trader charged with corruption in West Africa

Alex Beard and four other executives charged with conspiring to make corrupt payments in long-running SFO investigation

The UK's Serious Fraud Office has charged Glencore's billionaire former head of oil trading with conspiring to make corrupt payments to benefit the commodities company's oil operations in West Africa.

Alex Beard, who ran Glencore's oil division from 2007 until his retirement in 2019, will face charges alongside former Glencore executives Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga and Martin Wakefield after a long-running investigation into allegations of bribery at the company.