Norwegian Police Charge Oil Firm Over Alleged Bribery in Congo

Investigation into Oil Bribery Allegations

OSLO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Norwegian police said on Monday they have charged an oil company and two executives in Norway on suspicion of paying millions of dollars in bribes to close family members of Congo Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso.

Details of the Charges

Norwegian police said the investigation was launched after Monaco police sought legal assistance related to a suspicious bank transaction, and that substantial assistance also came from other countries, including France and the United States.

Company Responses and Market Impact

"The bribes... are linked to the President of Congo and his close family members, and the value of the bribes is particularly high," the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime said in a statement.

Background on Congolese Leadership

The Congolese government and the president's office did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

OFFSHORE LICENCE

The accused company, Hemla Africa Holding AS, is a fully owned indirect subsidiary of Oslo-listed oil group PetroNor and controls a 20% stake in the offshore PNGF Sud licence via Hemla E&P Congo.

PetroNor said in a statement it categorically contested the indictment and welcomed the opportunity to have the case examined in court. The company's share price fell 9.3% by 1153 GMT.

MGI International, which was controlled by the president's family, was given a 25% stake in Hemla E&P Congo, and MGI received dividends of close to $25 million between 2018 and 2024, according to the indictment seen by Reuters.

Other payments took place in parallel with the application for the oil licence in Congo, investigators said.

Norway did not have jurisdiction over the individuals who received the payments and no consideration had been made of any criminal liability on their part, the police said.

The PNGF Sud licence lies in shallow waters about 25 km (15 miles) off the coast, and encompasses several producing fields. It is operated by Perenco, an independent Anglo-French oil company.

Perenco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sassou first came to power in 1979 and ruled until he lost Congo's first multi-party elections in 1992, before returning to office in 1997 after a civil war.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo, Anait Miridzhanian in Dakar and America Hernandez in Paris; Editing by Alex Richardson)