--- title: "Bribery at Petrobras: the US plea and the Brazilian settlement" language: en canonical: https://dossiertwist.com/dossiers/trafigura/petrobras/ as_of: 2026-10-16 keywords: ["Trafigura Pte Ltd","TPTE","UEN 199601595D","Trafigura Group Pte. Ltd.","Trafigura Beheer B.V.","Farringford Foundation","Trafigura Control Holdings","TPTE Holding Limited","Trafigura Funding S.A.","Trafigura Nat Gas Limited","SK.2023.49","Sonangol Distribuidora","Petrobras","CFTC","Prateek Gupta","Trafigura v Gupta","Lex Oil","Mongolia","Myra Falls","Volare Shipping"] --- # Bribery at Petrobras: the US plea and the Brazilian settlement **Question.** What did Trafigura admit about Petrobras, and how was it resolved? **Answer.** On 28 March 2024 Trafigura Beheer B.V. pleaded guilty in the United States to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing officials of Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras between about 2003 and 2014, and agreed to a fine of $80,488,040 and forfeiture of $46,510,257. In March 2025 it signed a leniency agreement on the same facts with Brazil's CGU and AGU. A former group executive, Mariano Marcondes Ferraz, was reportedly convicted in Brazil and Switzerland for related payments. ## The US guilty plea and the Brazilian settlement - Analysis: According to the Justice Department, Trafigura and its co-conspirators paid bribes to Petrobras officials from about 2003 to 2014, agreeing from 2009 on payments of up to 20 cents a barrel concealed through intermediaries and offshore accounts, and earned about $61 million. Trafigura Beheer B.V. pleaded guilty on 28 March 2024; the department credited its cooperation and remediation but noted early failures to preserve documents and slow discipline, and counted a 2006 US plea by Trafigura AG and a 2010 Dutch conviction over petroleum waste in Côte d'Ivoire as prior misconduct. On 28 March 2025 Brazil's Comptroller General and Attorney General of the Union signed a leniency agreement with the company under the Anti-Corruption Law, under which it pays R$ 435,410,672.26 in fines and compensation to the Union and Petrobras, according to a business news site. [s-d120] [s-d4] [s-d241] - Qualification: The CGU and AGU announcement itself was not retained; its terms are known from a news site and from the group's own summary. - Response: In its 2025 bond prospectus the group said the conduct in Brazil was inconsistent with its principles, contractual terms and code of conduct, and noted that the Justice Department had credited its cooperation and its 2019 decision to stop using third-party agents for business origination. - Outcome: In March 2025 TBBV settled on the same facts with the Brazilian authorities: the Justice Department credited USD 26.8 million towards that resolution and TBBV agreed to pay an additional USD 49 million. ## Petrobras - Analysis: Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. is controlled by the Brazilian state: in September 2026 the federal government held 50.26% of its ordinary shares. [s-d183] ## Mariano Marcondes Ferraz - Analysis: According to a Swiss non-governmental organisation, Mariano Marcondes Ferraz, a Trafigura executive until November 2016, was sentenced in Brazil in 2018 and 2019 for eight corrupt payments to Petrobras made through his company Decal do Brasil, and later convicted in Switzerland for a ninth. [s-d152] - Qualification: The convictions are known from a non-governmental organisation's summary; the Brazilian and Swiss judgments were not retained. ## Sources - [s-d120] Press release No. 24-367: Swiss commodities trading company pleads guilty to foreign bribery scheme, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, 2024-03-28 - [s-d4] Company statement source · s-d4 - [s-d241] Media source · s-d241 - [s-d183] Company statement source · s-d183 - [s-d152] Media source · s-d152