Glencore’s former head of oil pleads not guilty to bribery charges

Glencore’s billionaire former head of oil trading has pleaded ⁠not guilty ⁠to ​two bribery charges after allegedly facilitating payments to west African officials in order to advance the Swiss commodity group’s operations ⁠in the continent.Alex Beard, 59, denied two counts of conspiracy to make ⁠corrupt payments at Southwark crown court in London on Thursday, in a case brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).The oil trader, who emerged from obscurity when he was revealed as a billionaire during Glencore’s flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 2011, ‌is alleged to have been involved in ‌a conspiracy to make corrupt payments ‌to government or state-owned oil company officials in Nigeria between 2010 and 2014 and in Cameroon between 2007 and 2014.A relaxed-looking Beard, wearing an open-neck shirt and sports jacket, appeared in the dock alongside his former deputy Andrew Gibson, who was Glencore’s head of oil operations. Gibson also denied four counts ​of conspiracy to make corrupt payments in Nigeria, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.Gibson, 66, also pleaded not guilty to an ⁠additional charge of conspiracy to falsify documents ​required ​for an accounting purpose.Four ​other former Glencore traders – Martin Wakefield, David Perez, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga – previously pleaded not guilty to all charges in the same case last year.The six defendants are due to stand trial next year.An SFO spokesperson said: “We continue to progress our bribery case against six former Glencore employees ahead of trial on 4 October 2027.”